Duncan Phyfe Table Styles

Duncan Phyfe was a Scottish cabinetmaker who worked in America. He did his best work from 1800 to 1815 and was a furniture designer in the Federal style, which was popular in the years after the Revolutionary War. His tables were made to be multipurposed and were often designed with leaves and other mechanisms that could expand them. Does this Spark an idea?

Elements

Phyfe was fond of brass knobs and pulls and decorations. He insisted on the best mahogany wood, a tropical wood that was even harder to obtain then than it is now. He wouldn't use an inlay of lighter wood but would use a panel of beautifully grained mahogany on a plainer mahogany. The eagle with spread wings and the lyre were popular motifs in his work. Phyfe not only incorporated lyres into some of his furniture, but they often had real strings of brass. Some tables had lyre pedestals on four heavy legs carved with acanthus leaves.

Drop-Leaf Tables

Because he liked his tables to have multiple uses, Phyfe employed dropped leaves in many of them. One dining table could expand from 25 inches to 13 feet long. One sofa table had drop leaves supported by curved brackets. The legs and the stretchers between them had spiral reeding. Reeding meant the legs had furrows in them like classical columns. The skirt of this table had gilt hardware as well, and Phyfe's trademark spread-winged eagle was positioned beneath the skirt. A Pembroke table, a table which traditionally had dropped leaves and a drawer set in an apron in the table, had long slender reeded legs on casters, or little wheels, so that it could be moved around.

Work and Sewing Tables

One work table had three drawers, acorn drops at the lower corners and a tripod base. It was small and could be tucked away when not in use. Another sewing table had supports shaped like urns. Another work table had a tambour front, which meant the front was made of strips of reeds or wood glued to a canvas that rolled back. The table also had a hinged top that revealed a writing board. The table could also be used for sewing.

Card Tables

One card table also had acanthus leaf legs, and acanthus leaves were also carved on the two columns that served as the table's pedestal. Like the work table, it had acorn drops on the lower corners. One of Phyfe's cleverest card tables had a steel rod in the hollow urn-shaped support that rearranged its leaves in ways that made it ready for gaming. Otherwise, it was a simple console table.