Pembroke Table

ca. 1795

Oval top with a molded edge and half round drop leaves above a plain apron fitted with a single cock beaded drawer on square tapering legs. Thumb nook on the fly leaf supports.

The Pembroke table also known as a breakfast table refers to a table with hinged leaves and a drawer on one side usually raised on casters for easy transport around a room. 

This Pembroke table descended in the family of John Townsend through his daughter Mrs. Thomas Brinley (née Mary Townsend 1769-1856) who left the table to her nephew and heir Christopher Townsend (1807-1881) who left it to his sister Ellen F. Townsend (1809-1887). Ellen F. Townsend bequeathed the table to her friend William P. Sheffield (1819-1907) descending in the Sheffield family until 1937. It was purchased by Doris Duke in 1969.



Published references:

The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery (http://rifa.art.yale.edu/), RIF1138
Morrison Heckscher, John Townsend Newport Cabinetmaker, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005, p. 180.

American (Newport, Rhode Island)

Mahogany and mahogany veneer (primary); mahogany, maple, chestnut, and white pine (secondary)

Overall: 27 3/4 x 38 1/4 x 31 1/2 in. (70.5 x 97.2 x 80 cm)

Probably John Townsend (1732–1809), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to his daughter, Mrs. Thomas Brinley (nèe Mary Townsend, 1769–1809), Newport, 1809; by descent to her nephew and heir, Christopher Townsend (died 1881), Newport, 1856; by descent to his sister, Ellen F. Townsend (1809–1887), Newport, 1881; bequeathed by her to her friend, William P. Sheffield (1819–1907), Newport, 1886; by descent to his son, William P. Sheffield (1857–1919), Newport; by descent to his son, Samuel S. Sheffield, Cincinnati, Ohio, until 1937. Purchased by Doris Duke (1912-1993) for Newport Restoration Foundation, Newport, RI, 1969; Whitehorne House Museum, Newport Restoration Foundation, from 1974.

2001.3