Pedestal Side Table with Portrait of Marquis de Lafayette
ManufacturerIn the manner of
John and Hugh Finlay
(American)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1824
MediumWood, paint, and iron
DimensionsOverall: 31 3/4 x 49 1/8 x 23 1/4 in. (80.6 x 124.8 x 59.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. C. Frederic Fluhmann
Object number81.36
On View
On viewLabel TextIn the manner of John and Hugh Finlay American, 1777–1851 and 1781–1830 Pedestal Side Table and Pair of Klismos Side Chairs with Lafayette Portraits, Baltimore, Maryland, ca. 1824 Wood, paint, and iron Gifts of Dr. and Mrs. C. Frederic Fluhmann 81.36 and 81.37a–b Known as the “Hero of Two Worlds,” the Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834) was a leader of both the American and French Revolutions. During his 1824 tour of the United States, Norfolk and other cities welcomed him with pageants and parades. This table and chairs, decorated with gilded classical designs and portraits of Lafayette, were probably commissioned for a banquet held in the general’s honor in Baltimore in October 1824. Like George Washington and the American eagle, Lafayette’s image was popular patriotic decoration for bottles, ceramics, and many everyday objects.Exhibition HistoryMyers House "Baltimore Painted Furniture 1800-1840," The Baltimore Museum of Art, Md., April 18 - June 4, 1972.Published ReferencesSamuel Sifton, "Lafayette, You Are Here," _American Heritage_ 40, no. 5 (July/August 1989), color ill. p. 48. S.J. Idzerda, et al., _Lafayette, Hero of Two Worlds..._ (Flushing, NY: The Queens Museum, 1989), 120, figs. 111-112. William Voss Elder, III, _Baltimore Painted Furniture 1800-1840_, exh. cat., The Baltimore Museum of Art, Md., 1972, 70. ISBN: 0-912298-25-1
ca. 1618
