Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
Easily the most famous American furniture maker, Duncan Phyfe (born Scotland, 1768-1854) gave his name to New York furniture that is similar to English Sheraton pieces of the early 19th century-characterized by simple designs, straight lines, thin legs, and classical ornamentation. Despite the fashionable success enjoyed by his work, Phyfe responded to stylistic changes, and by the 1830s had evolved a more severe mode that has been termed the "Grecian plain style." This sideboard and its cellarette (a cabinet for storing wine or liquor) are superb examples of that taste, relying for their effect on relatively simple structural forms with ornamentation largely limited to the use of boldly patterned rosewood veneers.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
161710
label
Sideboard
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
161710
contentType
object
title
Sideboard
description
Easily the most famous American furniture maker, Duncan Phyfe (born Scotland, 1768-1854) gave his name to New York furniture that is similar to English Sheraton pieces of the early 19th century-characterized by simple designs, straight lines, thin legs, and classical ornamentation. Despite the fashionable success enjoyed by his work, Phyfe responded to stylistic changes, and by the 1830s had evolved a more severe mode that has been termed the "Grecian plain style." This sideboard and its cellarette (a cabinet for storing wine or liquor) are superb examples of that taste, relying for their effect on relatively simple structural forms with ornamentation largely limited to the use of boldly patterned rosewood veneers.
date
c. 1840
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60747454
creators
39089
genreSpecific
Furniture and woodwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 99 x 168.9 x 59.7 cm (39 x 66 1/2 x 23 1/2 in.)
cul
America, New York
accession
2000.72.1
Source extras
tec
chiefly rosewood veneer with pine and poplar secondary woods
tombstone
Sideboard, c. 1840. Firm of Duncan Phyfe and Son (American, 1768–1854). Chiefly rosewood veneer with pine and poplar secondary woods; overall: 99 x 168.9 x 59.7 cm (39 x 66 1/2 x 23 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2000.72.1
collection
Furniture
didYouKnow
This sideboard and cellarette would have graced a 19th-century room. Notice the keyholes on the drawers of both pieces. Expensive silver utensils were stored in the sideboard and wine was kept under lock and key in the cellarette.
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
galleryDonorText
Walter and Jean Kalberer Foundation Gallery
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:24:17.706000
sourceId
161710
dept
Decorative Art and Design
coll
Furniture
med
chiefly rosewood veneer with pine and poplar secondary woods
creatorTags
gender unknown
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
c20da046917fc606