Decorative arts

Dressing table

Type: Decorative arts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1740-1760
Accession number: 91.288.2
Maker: Unknown(Opens in new tab) (Unknown)
Dimensions: 30 1/4 × 33 5/8 × 19 3/4 in. (76.8 × 85.4 × 50.2 cm.)
Medium: walnut
Description: The dressing table with a plain rectangular overhanging top with a molded edge, above a full width drawer over three short drawers, the central drawer with a plain concave fan front, each drawer with brass Chippendale-style bail pulls and molded edges, the top drawer with a matching escutcheon, shaped side and front aprons, the front with a pair of pendant acorn finials, raised on four cabriole legs terminating in pad feet. Two board sides, the drawer bottoms nailed into the drawer sides (not chamfered) with flat cut nails, the legs not continuous with the stiles.
Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Dr. Arthur Bond Cecil and Mrs. Henrietta Smith Cecil
Department: American Art
Find out more: View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)

Label text

With its elegantly curving cabriole legs and pad feet, three flat arches across the front skirt, and mid-rib drops with distinctive acorn-shaped finials, this dressing table is a fine example of late baroque furniture in the Queen Anne style.
In the 18th century, dressing tables, also known today as lowboys, were frequently paired with high chests of similar design. As the name implies, they were used-most often by women-for applying makeup and dressing hair.

Dressing table

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