Baltimore, Maryland, 1795-1810
Mahogany with tulip poplar, ebony, satinwood, and holly
Catalog no. 89
Among the many specialized furniture forms popular in the neoclassical period was the work table. Small in scale and easily portable, work tables were used by women for reading, writing, and sewing. Hand sewing was familiarly known as “work” during the period, hence the name applied to the form.
Oval work tables were especially popular in Baltimore, and a number of locally made examples survive. Nearly all of them were embellished in the same way, with a variety of patterned string inlays, a decorative technique much favored in Federal Baltimore.