Norfolk, Virginia, 1745-1760
Black walnut with yellow pine and white cedar
Long-term loan from Caroline B. Talbot
Catalog no. 83
Were it not for this table's history in the Talbot family of Norfolk, Virginia, and its execution in black walnut, yellow pine, and white cedar, it could be ascribed to the Connecticut River valley where virtually identical tables were made. The existence of two other dressing tables from the same shop, one retaining a history in nearby Princess Anne County, suggest that three were made in Norfolk.
There is little doubt that all the tables were made by an artisan who migrated from New England to the lower Chesapeake Bay in the mid-eighteenth century. A comparison of the tables reveals that while he retained New England structural techniques, the maker gradually abandoned several New England decorative details in favor of those preferred in eastern Virginia. For example, the use of scratch beading around the skirt and the shape of the turned feet diverge from New England models but mirror common southern ones.