Very Fine Classical Carved, Inlaid and Figured Satinwood Tambour Worktable, School of Duncan Phyfe, New York, Circa 1815

Constructed nearly completely of satinwood and with the added embellishments of acanthus carved legs, a reeded urn and a sliding tambour door, this work table was one of the most expensive options in the Phyfe workshop. Satinwood was imported from both the East and West Indies and is nearly as hard as ebony, making it a very difficult wood for cabinetmakers to work with.

A very similar work table, once owned by Andrew Varick Stout and attributed to Duncan Phyfe, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1986.84-2) (Peter Kenny, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (New York, 2011), pp. 172-173, pl. 9).