Drop-leaf dining table
John Townsend
1756 · Mahogany, maple · The American Wing
John Townsend is the best-known and most accomplished of the great Newport cabinetmakers. Aware of his own exceptional talents, he made a habit of signing and dating, or labeling, his best works. This table, made when the craftsman was just twenty-four years old, is the earliest instance of such documentation. (It is signed and dated in pencil, in a bold and calligraphic hand, on the underside of the top.) It is also the earliest datable example of the clawand-ball foot in Newport furniture.
- Artist
- John Townsend
- Date
- 1756
- Medium
- Mahogany, maple
- Culture
- American
- Department
- The American Wing
- Credit line
- Gift of Stuart Holzer and Marc Holzer, in memory of their parents, Ann and Philip Holzer, 2012
