A Fine Federal Inlaid Mahogany Pembroke Table Attributed to Michael Allison, New York City, Circa 1800

This table is strongly attributed to the workshop of the well-known and respected New York City cabinetmaker Michael Allison (1790-1845). Hinged drop leaves above a conforming case fitted with a drawer at one end and a false drawer at the other, resting on square tapering and highly decorative string inlaid legs with cuffed ends.  Size:  28" high x 20" wide (with 10" D-shaped ends) x 33" deep.  The proportions are like other known New York Pembroke tables, and the double banded string inlays are typical of Allison furniture.  Both escutcheons are the originals, a unique form with an eagle and thirteen stars, stamped "HJ," made exclusively for the American market during this patriotic period of our history by Thomas Hands and William Jenkins who worked in Birmingham, England from 1791-1803.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art displays a labeled Allison chest of drawers with the identical Hand and Jenkins stamped brasses.