PEMBROKE TABLE

During the second half of the eighteenth century southern cabinetmakers -- both rural and urban -- expanded their use of thinly cut veneers and colorful inlays to enliven the surfaces of carved or otherwise plain wooden cases.  In Charleston, a German-born artisan named Martin Pfeninger seems to have introduced this trend. In 1772, Pfeninger appeared in the account book of Thomas Elfe (c. 1719-1775) being paid for unspecified “work,” and the next year advertised from his own shop “Cabinetmaking in all its branches” and “Inlaid-Work in any Taste, by Martin Pfeninger.”  Later, Pfeninger billed the Charleston upholsterer Solomon Smith (w. c. 1772-1791) for “a fine Mahogany Bedstead with a Rich Cornice, Gothic Posts, Carved Swells & Caps” and “Inlaid Pedestals.” MESDA’s elegantly inlaid breakfast table is attributed to this seminal German craftsman.  Its serpentine top, double-ogee stringing, neoclassical husk drops, and finely shaded dogwood blossoms on the upper leg stiles and brackets epitomize the fine craftsmanship of Charleston’s cabinetmaking community, whether English, Scottish, or German.