Mechanical Table

Often done in the presence of friends and visitors, dressing and grooming were important activities in the life of an eighteenth-century aristocratic lady and called for many accessories and pieces of furniture designed especially for primping. This small dressing table features a mirror and compartments on either side to store toilet articles, as well as a book rest (the back of the mirror), a shallow drawer to keep sheets of paper, and two small storage compartments for quills and inkpots, should it become necessary to write a short note while getting ready for the day. Finally, the upper section can be removed and placed elsewhere— perhaps on a bed—where it can rest on its four short feet. The lower section then becomes a table complete with the compartments and drawers to store the accessories needed for getting dressed, writing, and eating a light meal, as usually happened during this daily ceremony.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.

Sir John Murray Scott, Bart., Paris, 1897. Bequeathed by him to Josephine Victoria, Baroness Sackville, Paris, 1912. Jacques Seligmann, Paris, 1913. Frick, 1914 (through Elsie de Wolfe, acting as intermediary).

Source: Furniture in The Frick Collection: French 18th- & 19th-Century Furniture (Pt. 2) & Gilt Bronzes. Volume VI. New York: The Frick Collection, 1992.