Sideboard 1850 - 1857

This walnut sideboard with marble top was made by Alexander Roux, a prominent New York cabinetmaker, though we don’t know exactly when. Its elaborate carving harks back to the Renaissance, evoking an aristocratic lifestyle for the American middle classes. The sideboard emerged as a key piece of furniture in the 19th century, reflecting new dining habits, like the growing fashion for elaborate dinner parties, and the display of wealth. Roux’s work appealed to affluent Americans seeking to emulate European styles, but also to express their own cultural identity through naturalistic motifs. Sideboards like this one thus became stages on which families performed their social status. Historical records, such as trade catalogs and newspaper advertisements, alongside genealogical research into the families who commissioned such pieces, can help us understand the aspirations and social contexts of those who acquired them. Ultimately, this object and its history demonstrate that taste is never a purely individual matter.