Furniture: Demilune Game Table made for P. T. Barnum by Julius Dessoir
Game Table
circa 1846 (Date manufactured/created)
31.5 in H
22 in D
, 44 in Diameter
Measurement Notes: diameter while open
Demi-lune (half-moon) game table with folding top and carved features on the legs. This style of furniture is called Chinese Chippendale. Chippendale refers to the well-known English cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale, whose furniture designs and design books achieved acclaim in the 1700s. His work featured the use of both Chinese- and Gothic-style motifs and carvings. On the legs of Barnum's game table, the Chinese influence can be seen in the carved bell or tassel-like features suspended from a line, and the layered feather-like carvings. Chinese Chippendale-style furniture frequently includes a type of decoration called fretwork, an interlaced geometric design which typically creates open spaces within the overall design, but can also be carved on a surface in low relief. In this example, narrow, half-round strips of wood were applied to the "apron" of the table and in areas of the legs to form a geometric design that can be described as fretwork, although it is not an open design.
Julius Dessoir was a (German) Prussian emigre who came to America in the 1840s, and was naturalized on October 19, 1852. The first listing of his work as a cabinet maker is in the 1842-1843 New York City city directory. His furniture making business was based on Broadway, and he became well known for elaborate furniture work. He exhibited his work in the New York Crystal Palace of 1853. His work for Barnum was done within Dessoir’s first decade in America, and shows not only Barnum’s taste for elaborately carved furniture, but also Dessoir’s superior skill level as a craftsman.
A suite of furniture was made for P. T. Barnum's first family home iin Bridgeport, Connecticut, located on present day Fairfield Avenue. It was designed in the Moorish revival style by Leopold Eidlitz, with additional inspiration from the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. It was built between 1847 and 1848 at a cost of $100,000 and sat on seventeen acres of land, extensively landscaped. In December of 1857 the mansion burned, apparently due to smoldering ashes from a workman's pipe. The family was not occupying the home at the time, and most likely the set of furniture was located elsewhere. However contemporary notes say that precious items were saved from the burning house, so it is also possible the furniture was rescued from the fire.
Donated to the museum in 1888 by Nancy Fish Barnum.
Julius Dessoir was a (German) Prussian emigre who came to America in the 1840s, and was naturalized on October 19, 1852. The first listing of his work as a cabinet maker is in the 1842-1843 New York City city directory. His furniture making business was based on Broadway, and he became well known for elaborate furniture work. He exhibited his work in the New York Crystal Palace of 1853. His work for Barnum was done within Dessoir’s first decade in America, and shows not only Barnum’s taste for elaborately carved furniture, but also Dessoir’s superior skill level as a craftsman.
A suite of furniture was made for P. T. Barnum's first family home iin Bridgeport, Connecticut, located on present day Fairfield Avenue. It was designed in the Moorish revival style by Leopold Eidlitz, with additional inspiration from the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. It was built between 1847 and 1848 at a cost of $100,000 and sat on seventeen acres of land, extensively landscaped. In December of 1857 the mansion burned, apparently due to smoldering ashes from a workman's pipe. The family was not occupying the home at the time, and most likely the set of furniture was located elsewhere. However contemporary notes say that precious items were saved from the burning house, so it is also possible the furniture was rescued from the fire.
Donated to the museum in 1888 by Nancy Fish Barnum.
1888.001.006