RARE DIMINUTIVE RHODE ISLAND SIDEBOARD

Newport or Providence, Rhode Island.
Mahogany and white pine with inlaid birch panels.
Circa 1790. Condition: Excellent condition throughout, brasses replaced in original holes, some drawer beading and veneer repairs.
Provenance: James McNab, Charleston South Carolina

This sideboard is a part of an extremely small group of diminutive neoclassical sideboards produced in Rhode Island around 1790. It is a part of a group of Federal Rhode Island sideboards that are much more diminutive than examples seen in other states. There are no other examples known of a shaped front diminutive sideboard outside of this Rhode Island group. The sideboard is constructed of fine figured mahogany with inlaid birch panels and white pine secondary. The mahogany serpentine-front sideboard with sliding tray, the stiles and legs are fronted by curly satinwood panels, the center drawer contains an inlaid oval.

Below the shaped top is a pull-out mixing slide over three drawers. The lower section has two cabinet doors flanked by two deep drawers and finely tapered and inlaid legs. A rare Israel Sack handled a nearly identical example that is photographed on p. 1048 of American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection, volume IV.

While New England cannot boast as its claim to fame the eminence of its Hepplewhite sideboards, there are several examples which come to light that deserve a mark of excellence. The example illustrated belongs to a group of New England sideboards of small dimension, making them a coveted prize for many present-day dining rooms; a feature to be observed is the sliding tray beneath the inlaid solid top which is of shallower dimension as opposed to the crossbanded deep tops found generally in the middle Atlantic states.