ticketsMember | Make a donation

Sideboard

ca. 1795–1805
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 724
Unknown in American homes prior to the 1790s, the sideboard quickly became an essential component of the fashionable dining room. It provided space for the storage and display of expensive silver flatware, porcelain, and glassware used during the course of a meal. This massive and resplendent example with an accompanying knife box is a tour de force of early-nineteenth-century cabinetmaking. It includes a unique variety of ornament, from inlaid panels of mahogany veneer, marquetry, and silver-plated copper to verre églomisé, or reverse painting on glass on the panels flanking the central lunette.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sideboard
  • Date: ca. 1795–1805
  • Geography: Possibly made in Baltimore, Maryland, United States; Possibly made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Mahogany, satinwood, silver, copper, verre églomisé with yellow poplar, white pine, mahogany
  • Dimensions: 65 1/2 x 89 x 31 in. (166.4 x 226.1 x 78.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest and Mitchel Taradash Gift, 1945
  • Object Number: 45.77
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Desk and Bookcase, Mahogany, satinwood, maple, verre églomisé<br/>with cedar, American
Desk and Bookcase
American
ca. 1811
Card table, Mahogany, satinwood, sycamore, holly with oak, yellow poplar, American
Card table
American
1790–95
Drop-leaf Dining Table, Mahogany, tulip poplar, white pine, sycamore, American
Drop-leaf Dining Table
American
1795–1810
Side Chair, John Finlay, Maple, American
Side Chair
John Finlay
Hugh Finlay
1815–20
Desk and bookcase, Mahogany, satinwood, holly, verre églomisé with cedar, pine, American
Desk and bookcase
American
1800–1810

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.