Underside of marble stamped: LEVI TAYLOR/MARBLE WORKER/BALTIMORE
Baltimore
Circa 1840-1850
Mahogany, mahogany veneer, white pine, black Egyptian marble
40″ W; 36.5″ H; 20.5″ D

A fine late Classical period pier table or console with a solid Baltimore provenance. The table descended in the family of Maryland Governor Thomas Ward Veasey (1774-1842). The design of the table is identical to that of the table illustrated on Plate 17, No 86 of John Hall’s The Cabinetmaker’s Assistant(Baltimore, 1840) except for the Cupid’s bow shaped platform.

Levi Taylor is listed as a stonecutter in the Baltimore city directories from 1831-1841. By 1842 he was running his own steam marble yard, and in 1850, he was listed as “propriteor, Importer and Dealer… Monuments, Grave Stones, Mantiles (sic) and Table Tops.”

A table nearly identical to this one (except for its cupid’s bow shaped platform), also with Levi Taylor labeled marble top, is pictured on page 139 of Classical Maryland, Maryland Historical Society, 1993, and page 195 (figure 173) of Furniture in Maryland by Gregory Wiedman, 1984.

Why we love it: Any time a piece of your inventory is better than one published in a book, you have to be proud. It’s rare to have one signed by the marble cutter.