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Worktable from the bedroom of the Worsham-Rockefeller House

George A. Schastey & Co. American
 George A. Schastey American, born Germany

Not on view

This worktable embodies the inspired moment of the early 1880s when international exoticism was grafted onto historical European forms to create something altogether new, with graceful proportions, artistic flair, and ornamentation at once luxurious and restrained. Constructed of purpleheart, the imported exotic wood that Schastey favored, its splayed legs and skirt exhibit a shimmering inlaid patterning of brass, pewter, and mother-of-pearl, which creates a scale-like design indebted to Asian and Near Eastern sources. This distinctive use of patterned inlaid metalwork is found in other examples of Schastey’s oeuvre. Beautiful and functional, the table’s top sides lift up to reveal satinwood interiors and the long central drawer pulls out to display a sewing box covered and lined in silk velvet.

Worktable from the bedroom of the Worsham-Rockefeller House, George A. Schastey & Co. (American, New York, 1873–1897), Purpleheart, satinwood, walnut, mahogany, poplar, brass, pewter or lead, mother-of-pearl, glass, colored resin, and original and reproduction textiles, American

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Worktable from the bedroom of the Worsham-Rockefeller House, George A. Schastey & Co. (American, New York, 1873–1897), Purpleheart, satinwood, walnut, mahogany, poplar, brass, pewter or lead, mother-of-pearl, glass, colored resin, and original and reproduction textiles, American
Worktable from the bedroom of the Worsham-Rockefeller House, George A. Schastey & Co. (American, New York, 1873–1897), Purpleheart, satinwood, walnut, mahogany, poplar, brass, pewter or lead, mother-of-pearl, glass, colored resin, and original and reproduction textiles, American
Worktable from the bedroom of the Worsham-Rockefeller House, George A. Schastey & Co. (American, New York, 1873–1897), Purpleheart, satinwood, walnut, mahogany, poplar, brass, pewter or lead, mother-of-pearl, glass, colored resin, and original and reproduction textiles, American

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