Center Table

designed and made by Herter Brothers (American)

c. 1875

Medium
rosewood inlaid with other woods and bone
Classification
Furniture and woodwork
Dimensions
Overall: 76.5 x 122 x 76.2 cm (30 1/8 x 48 1/16 x 30 in.)
Culture
America, New York
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Decorative Art and Design
Credit line
John L. Severance Fund
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

The general form of this table is based on 19th-century English pieces that are variously described as modern Gothic or Eastlakian. They tend to be rectilinear with incised ornament, and are often, as here, gilded. Combined with this form are decorative elements of Japanese derivation—the carved panel of the stretcher and the inlaid medallions on the frieze beneath the top. The elaborate marquetry, or inlay, of the top includes motifs of classical origin. The top was perhaps made in France and imported to America to be used on furniture made here.