More than meets the eye, this Pembroke table deserves a thoughtful assessment. Its general form is not unusual: a turned-leg, drop-leaf, multi-purpose table, also called a breakfast table. Reeded columnar legs surmounted by “capitals” formed by stacked rings were common in the Mid-Atlantic region as were end rails decorated with cross banding along the bottom edge that continued across the leg stiles. The three-lobed shape of the table leaves, called “triple elliptic” in the period for the elliptical curves and mimicking the shape of some Philadelphia and New York regional card tabletops, is impressive but not especially notable. What transcends the many contemporary Pembroke tables is the care with which this one was made, evident in materials and construction details.
