Center table, John Francis Birchard, Milwaukee, ca. 1871.
Object name
Table
Alternate object name
Center table
Maker
Birchard, John Francis, 1819-1894
Date
1870-1871
Dimensions
29 ¾"H x 36 ¼"W x 27 ¼"D
Materials and techniques
Walnut; Marble
Marks
Written in black paint on top of apron: "Birchard, Milwaukie [sic] Wis."
Original location
Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Location of use
Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin
Current location
Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin
Description
Oval center table with white marble top. 3½" deep apron with bosses, molding, and drop pendants. Four c-curve legs and turned center pedestal supported by x-shaped base with four bun feet, each with a metal castor.
History
Among the first cabinetmakers to settle in Milwaukee was John Francis Birchard, who came to Wisconsin from New York City in 1845. By 1860 he was the proprietor of the second-largest furniture factory in the city with a workforce of twenty men. A receipt among the records at Villa Louis indicates that Birchard's clients included Louis Dousman of Prairie du Chien, who purchased this table for $30 in 1871.
Sources
James S. Buck, Milwaukee Under the Charter, from 1847 to 1853, vol. 3 (Milwaukee: Symes, Swain and Co., 1884), pp. 30-32.
