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Inside Antiques, by Robert Reed   Inside Antiques: Delightful Mysteries of the Dressing Table   By Robert Reed Like Shakespeare’s rose, a classic dressing table would likely appear as beautiful by any other name.   In fact, it did indeed appear by many other names. From time to time, in place to place, it was a dress box, chamber table, lowboy, a low chest of drawers, pedestal-and-cupboard, vanity table, or a kneehole table.   In France, it was a poudreuse. In England it was sometimes called a Beau Brummel for British dandy George Bryan Brummell said to be the prince of fashion who regularly took five hours to dress.   Generally speaking, the early dressing table was defined more by usage than by design. Typically, if the piece had some sort of accompanying mirror and a place for cosmetics it qualified for the term.   Historians usually date dressing tables as beginning in the 1690s. However, American documents show Captain James Archer was using some type of looking glass attached to a case or chest much earlier. An inventory of his possessions in 1607 listed “one chest of drawers, one dress box, three looking-glasses and one glass case.”   From the 1690s forward, throughout the William and Mary period, dressing tables were found in considerable profusion. Many were made of solid walnut, while others were simply veneered.   Some were provided with the deep side drawers and a shallow drawer in the center usually with brass key plates and handles. Some were even more elaborate with an inlaid band around the top of the table and the faces of the drawers enhanced with special woods.   Legs of the dressing table, espcially in the early days, could vary. Some makers were satisfied with plain legs, while others favoured the cabriole shape and web feet of Dutch influence. Moreover, some had four legs while others had six legs - four in the front and two in the back.   The one essential thing however for most every dressing table was the mirror or looking glass. Just how the ‘looking glass’ was incorporated in the design of a particular dressing table was another mystery.   In the case of the aforementioned Captain Archer, the looking glasses were described as having been fitted to both the chest and the so-called box.   Meanwhile, John Bowman writes in the volume American Furniture of “an easel mirror, together with jewel boxes, a hair receiver, and candle sticks which ornamented the surface” of the dressing table.   There is more.   Other accounts describe a separate swing-frame mirror used with a rectangular dressing table. Still others speak of mirrored lids in the center of such tables which lifted up to reveal compartments of toiletries.   Perhaps it was summed up best by Joseph Aronson in The Encyclopedia of Furniture who explained, “Men made much of dressing tables in England and France, and for over a century much ingenuity was expended on arrangements of mirrors, lighting and so forth.”   And what about this business of self-adornment anyway? Often overlooked in the study of classic dressing tables is their moral controversy.   Basically, the dressing table was developed during the17th and 18th centuries to accommodate affluent men and women who wanted to look their best. However, in their study Southern Furniture authors Ronald Hurst and Jonathan Prown have pointed out not everyone agreed at the time.   Certain conservative sets or groups deeply believed that to enhance or alter the work of the Almighty was harmful. Thus they - and others - concluded the dressing table could then be a very controversial piece of furniture.   Where they were in use, Hurst and Prown point out individuals sat in front of small mirrors and dolled up. Women dressed their hair and applied lotions or perfumes. Men shaved and tied back their hair or donned wigs over clean shaved scalps.   In early 1700, a walnut dressing table might have included a bevelled swinging glass inside a carved and gilt frame. Further beading molding ornamentation might have been added to the taste of the owner.   Ironically, although the dressing table of the 18th century would later be referred to by some as a lowboy, during that particular century it was not.   Scholars point out that while 18th century records mention low chests and dressing tables, the ‘lowboy’ reference is absent. It didn’t come into use until the 19th century.   During the flow of the Queen Anne era, dressing tables became even more elegant. One feature was a central recess for the knees along with the addition of more drawers. At that time, the lifting lid became more typical. The lifting lid basically provided a hinged mirror plus more room for powder boxes and additional toilet necessities.   Examples from that era offered at modern auction gallery auctions have included a 1740s piece with three long and three short drawers; or a 1750s piece with a central drawer above two smaller drawers.   “The (North American) dressing table of the early 18th century, like that in France, became an important furnishing because of the custom of women receiving visitors in the bedroom,” notes Rita Rief, author of The Antique Collector’s Guide to Styles and Prices. “More often than not, it appeared without the desk portion in the back.”   By the 1750s, the lifting ledge of the dressing table was being replaced by a top drawer made to pull out on runners. Separate swinging glass mirrors were also mounted on side pillars in some cases.   Additionally, around the middle of the 18th century top drawers were cloth lined, and at times adjustable racks of mirrors were offered.   Federal Period dressing tables, seen in the latter part of the 18th century, were often squaretopped and frequently included small handkerchief drawers as well.   As North America entered the 19th century, the kneehole dressing table was a common sight in the homes of the well-to-do. Numerous mirrors enabled the lady of the house to apply an increasing variety of cosmetic at her leisure.   Sometimes the tables were referenced as lowboys to correspond with the bedroom’s taller chest or highboy. Later the term might simply be vanity table.   Today, classic dressing tables of the past appear in leading antique venues and often command princely sums from serious collectors of fine furniture.   Photo 1 - Queen Anne carved walnut dressing table or lowboy (Skinner Inc.)   Photo 2 - Chippendale shell-carved walnut dressing table ca 1750s (Skinner Inc.)   Photo 3 - Chippendale shell-carved walnut dressing table ca 1750s (Skinner Inc.)   Photo 4 - Federal paint-decorated dressing table, early 19th century (Skinner Inc.)     Robert Reed has written on antiques and collectibles for more than two decades. He has also authored 15 books, including his recently released Antiques and Collectible Dictionary, available from www.collectorbooks.com     Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2010 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster