New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2008.

Library Table

Manufacturer Louis Comfort Tiffany (American,1848-1933)

Designer Louis Comfort Tiffany (American,1848-1933)

Dateca. 1900

MediumMahogany

DimensionsOverall: 29 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 96 in. (74.9 x 151.1 x 243.8 cm)

ClassificationsDecorative arts

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2304

On View

Not on view

DescriptionOval library table of architectural form made by a furniture manufacturer under L.C. Tiffany's directions. A bank of six drawers on either side with pilasters at each side and dividing the drawers three and three. Half round open areas to accommodate chairs flank each side of the drawer areas. The rounded ends are cabinets with two adjustable shelves enclosed by doors which are divided by strips of molding which continue all the way around the table top are decorated with small blocks of wood set in rows at different levels. All pulls are oval shaped brass.

Label TextOval Desk/Library Table American, probably designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany for his own use, late 19th century Mahogany and other woods Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2304 This desk/library table is believed to have come from the Briars, which served as Louis Comfort Tiffany’s country home before the completion of Laurelton Hall in 1904. It appears in a photograph of the library at the Briars that was published in Dekorative Kunst in 1900 (right). The table is derived from a form that was popular in English neoclassical furniture at the turn of the 19th century. Its streamlined neoclassical ornament is playfully adapted in much of the same way that Tiffany appropriated and adapted 18th-century ornament in his other furniture designs. The rather eccentric tiered dentils bordering the table top match the dentils of the mantle.