A well made Empire period dressing or shaving mirror. Carved mahogany and mahogany veneer with acanthus shaped feet and bellflower form mirror supports. Style transitional to Art Nouveau. American, 19th century. Good, serviceable condition with expected patina and checking of original wood surface. Probably original glass. Height, 25 1/2 inches. Width at widest, 27 inches. Depth, 12 5/8 inches.

Soon to be introduced for availability of inspection at The Antique Center at Historic Savage Mill, Maryland

Chippendale mahogany reverse serpentine (oxbow) slant front desk. Ball and claw feet. Circa 1770. Good, old surface. Relined drawers. Original back and bottom show the age and oxidation of some original, untouched secondary surfaces. Replaced drawer brasses. Some loose, smaller pulls for slant front slide supports and interior gallery drawers retained. A locksmith need be retained to loose the top drawer. Otherwise good condition. Massachusetts, probably Boston. Height, 44 1/2 inches. Width, 41 1/2 inches. Depth, 27 inches (add another 1.5 inches for convex drawer fronts and foot returns). A rare opportunity to acquire, enjoy and conserve as steward a beautiful specimen born with our country.

This desk may be inspected at The Antique Center at Historic Savage Mill, Maryland

Federal mahogany pembroke table. Nicely proportioned with spacious, shaped top. Line inlay decoration on top, drawer, case and legs. New England (probably Massachusetts), early 19th century. Good, serviceable condition. One leg restored. Refinished, nice light tone. Later drawer pull. Height, 29 inches. Length, about 33 inches. Width, 21 1/4 inches.

An appointment would be necessary to inspect this table

A Hepplewhite mahogany shield back chair. Carved wheatsheaf motif splat. The frame of the back, and the supporting stiles, are scribed inside the edges. The work of an able furniture maker of the late 18th century to earliest 19th century, made in the popular manner of Hepplewhite. We favor an American Federal attribution. Secondary wood is a darkly oxidized hardwood with hand kerfs and planing. Peeling back the under lining more wouldn’t help us with identification. Good condition with old surface and with no losses or restoration. Expected movement and minor stress of the wood. A strongly made, handsome and serviceable chair, complementary to any period interior. Back height, 36 1/4 inches. About 17 1/2 inches to the upholstered seat. Seat depth about 17 inches. Seat width about 18 1/2 inches at the front.

An appointment would be necessary to inspect this chair

A nicely proportioned, elegant Sheraton cellarette. The case joined to the framed base, raised on turned legs. Escutcheon with associated lock but no key. Bottom of the case interior fitted with 4 1/2 inch high dividers for eight bottle positions. Old finish. Appears to be white pine secondary with a red paint wash and quite oxidized on the underside. Looking at our picture of the underside, one board from the back of the supporting frame can be discerned as a replacement. Also from that image, an illegible (to us) maker’s scrawl, large across the bottom of the case, is observed. We believe this cellarette is American Federal rather than English late Georgian. Circa 1820. Good condition. Easily holds champagne and other 750ml bottles. An easily placed size at 26 1/2 inches high, 20 inches wide and 11 1/4 inches deep.

An appointment would be necessary to inspect this cellarette

This Federal lift-top chest with lower drawer reminds of southern American sugar chests. With proportions being comparable, this low-height chest is more formal with mahogany, on the small side and without a divided top compartment. With yellow pine secondary wood, the frame is raised on french feet. Sourced from Middleburg, Virginia. The line of inlay across the front of the lift-top is old but not original (old hinge marks showing that the top was reversed back to front at some point). The other inlay was replaced by us to fill routing where inlay (probably also added later) was missing. The front pulls were added to replace cheap Chippendale style brasses which weren’t appropriate. We’ve used it as a cellarette. Wine bottles fit perfectly in the drawer (as you can see from one of our pictures). Other practical uses may have been as a silver chest or a campaign chest. The top compartment with lift top is likewise well proportioned to take accessories, wine bottles on their side and other, smaller bottles standing upright. Good, restored condition. Height, 27 7/8 inches. Width, 23 3/16 inches. Depth, 17 1/16 inches.

An appointment would be necessary to inspect this chest

A Federal sewing table of elegant form. Mahogany legs and mahogany veneered skirt - both with string inlay. Stylized, bentwood stretchers with mahogany veneer bracing the graceful, tapering legs. The top a later replacement and the key escutcheon without a lock mechanism. Early 19th century and later. Refinished. Serviceable condition. Height, 31 1/4 inches. Width 18 5/8 inches. Depth, 14 3/8 inches.

This table may be inspected at The Antique Center at Historic Savage Mill, Maryland

Federal card table. Figured mahogany single board top leaves and legs. Crotch mahogany veneered skirt. The shaped top leaves with reeded edges. The skirt frame conforming in shape, joined legs with carved flower head decoration within rectangular reserves over tapering, reeded legs on turned feet. Probably Philadelphia based on the form and feeding. Circa 1815. Good condition with some minor veneer loss along the skirt edging. The top with minor stressing of the wood. Height, 29 2/2 inches. Width, 35 1/2 inches. Depth, 17 3/4 inches.

This table may be inspected at The Antique Center at Historic Savage Mill, Maryland

Rare American Federal tea caddy in nicely figured mahogany with three sides and stepped lid inlaid with banding and corner fan decoration; rectangular, with shaped skirt and French bracket feet and divided interior. Probably 1800. Provenance: The Cockrell Collection.

See Montgomery, American Furniture, The Federal Period, #436-439 for other examples.

Exhibited: “A Celebration of the Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party” at Doyles, Boston 2024

Height, 9.25”; Length, 12”; Width, 6.5.”

Charming American Miniature Blanket Chest in chestnut, having a hinged moulded edge top opening to a well, a single lower drawer and raised on straight bracket feet. Note the fine dovetail work on the sides.

American 1780-1800.

Many miniatures are labeled as "salesman's samples" but many were the work of apprentices to show their skills to the master craftsman.

12.5 x 7" x 8.5" tall
(one back foot ended out)

An unusual and dramatic firescreen abattant. It reminds me of some of the smaller, New York classical parlor furniture I've seen in Southern house tours with late Federal drawing and music rooms furnished with pieces imported by successful merchants - almost, but not quite, over the top in their design yet direct in their function. So an argument could be made for high, New York city style. And the inlaid oval in the center, with pie crimped edge, is reminiscent of some New England work. The passive function is that of a firescreen and explains the distress to the side with inlay which likely faced the fireplace (rather than the upholstered side.) The "surprise" is the enclosed work area with the hinged top dropping to provide a writing surface (abattant [fr], "put horizontal") below the interior fitted with letter or document slots (only the back one of three dividing slats remaining - evidence of two more, and three segments which would have divided at least one of two lateral slots into three sections.) Perhaps because of the narrow profile, there appears to be no secondary wood under or behind any of the solid mahogany. Condition is quite good considering the likely heat exposure as a firescreen and probable stress to the hinged top which relies upon the case as a counter-stop. We had distress to the inlaid surface evened out, filled and finished - disturbing old finish as less as possible - to make it presentable for the decorator yet acceptable to the collector. We left the old upholstery (possibly original) alone for the next steward to decide. Our restorer (specializing in period furniture) had also never before encountered this design. Our photographs illustrate the character of the old, now serviceable inlaid surface. Ca 1800 - 1810. Height, about 42 3/4 inches. Width, about 21 5/8 inches (about 22 1/4 inches wide at the trestle base).

This firescreen abattant may be inspected at The Antique Center at Historic Savage Mill, Maryland

Rare Chester County Pennsylvania Spice Chest in walnut having a moulded cornice above a raised panel door opening to an arrangement of ten small drawers (one replaced) and raised on straight bracket feet. Secondary woods include: poplar, oak, walnut and beech. There is a faint inscription on one of the bottom drawers. Pennsylvania, circa 1760-80.

Spice boxes or chests were a status symbol in colonial America. Only a household that was well furnished and fairly prosperous had a spice box. Spice chests were popular among the Quakers of the Delaware Valley during the late seventeenth and throughout the eighteenth centuries, remaining fashionable in Pennsylvania long after falling out of style elsewhere. The boxes, fitted in the interior with banks of small drawers, were often displayed in the public rooms (not the kitchens) of homes, functioning as both a repository for small valuables, such as spices and silver and jewelry items, and as a symbol of the family’s prosperity.

18"W x 9.75"D x 22" tall