Hunting table

Well ... This old lady is off to bed ... Joy.

 

I missed you also James......love to read your posts.

 

Same!

 

Thanks
It's been that way for about 40-50 year, so I don't know how much has been redone since the original. I'll ask my Dad if he knows.

Thanks

Huh, interesting. I guess the myth makes a better story.
And Thanks again James!! Lots of information! Fantastic!

 

LOL, Absolutely, the myth does make a better story, I am not sure how this got started but furniture scholars have looked into it and say not true. Kinda like 17th-18th century "bible boxes" , the problem with that one is books/bibles were VERY expensive back then, only the rich could afford them. I suspect all these myths were most likely market based to sell product.

 

Love those stories, kind of like a cake stand having a "brandy well" in the center

 

It is still not known for a fact what these early "bible boxes" were used for, the latest theory and i think makes the most sense is, back then, you had 2,3 or sometimes 4 generations of family all living in the same house. They didn't have private bedrooms then, everyone shared one large room. You ate, slept, relaxed, all together in a single room.
These small wood boxes that almost everyone had were most likely used to store personal items, a small private place for each family member to store personal things that only they had access to. It ain't much privacy but i guess, better than NO privacy.

 

brandy well? not a clue here!

 

Cake stands often have a little dip in the center, people started calling it a brandy well to collect the brandy you soak into the cake. The reality is it is just how the mold was made.

 

Occam's Razor, once again.

 

Hmm, an interesting Google look up.


Update. My Dad does not know of any modifications in his time. He does remember that the right door used to have hardware there for a key so it could be locked. The left door opens by reaching your hand over and twisting a wood piece that is attached to the inside of the door. Also it came from my Granny's side which had money and were large landowners and merchants from the Scotland Neck area of North Carolina and Virginia Colonial area.

 

Yeah, back to reality!

Indeed, hey Ghopper, where you been?

Yeah, well, looking again at first pic, I am 90% sure those doors are not original to the piece, the hinges for one thing are obviously done later and not very well either plus they do not look like hard pine, more like tulip poplar. Naturally, i could be wrong about this, I have been fooled more than once by photo's of old furniture. The camera is notorious for missing construction details that are easy to see in person.
The reality when it comes to old furniture is, the camera lies, often!

 

A quick Google brought up these Hepplewhite & Sheraton (round legs) Huntboards and one thing i notice, they mostly have drawers, some with locks & not doors, just sayin

 

Huh, so if we rewind history and make some assumptions ... I am pretty sure that my Papa (Grandfather) put on the hinges that are on there now to replace the ones that were on there. Someone before that removed the drawers (2 or maybe 3 drawers like in the last two pictures) and built and added the doors. And potentially someone either added the dentil molding or replaced the molding that was there (like in the first picture).

 

Well no, I don't think you can make all those assumptions based on photos alone, what you know based on pics are, hinges are not original & possibly doors. The rest is maybe/ maybe not, which is the best one can do with pics alone. To know for sure, you would need someone who knows what they are looking at to examine piece.

 

Another quick google, this one looking for a huntboard with doors! Came across this one, once owned by Sumpter Priddy, a well know dealer in southern furniture and it has doors! I was just saying that more preferred drawers but doors were absolutely made in period pieces.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/2341362_48-southern-huntboard-probably-ga-or-nc-c-1820-1850