Object Type: Furniture

Medium and Support: wood

Credit Line: Florence Griswold Museum; Purchased through the donations of participants in the 1996 Annual Benefit Auction.

Accession Number: 1996.9

A large dining table once owned by the Griswold family. There are three leaves in the original mahogany, four additional leaves were made at a later date, out of pine. There are casters on the legs which were added at a later date.

Originally owned by the Griswold family, the table was sold at the 1938 auction after Florence Griswold's death. The table and several other items were purchased by an antiques dealer from Michigan, who often traveled to New England in search of antiques. The dealer never sold the table, but rather kept it for his own personal use. After his death the table was inherited by his son. In 1996 the son contacted Heartwood Antiques in Grand Rapids with the intent to sell the table and several other items. Heartwood Antiques noticed that penciled beneath the table were the words, "Miss Griswold's, Connecticut." Through a variety of resources, the dealer was able to contact the Florence Griswold Museum whereby our curator and director checked the authenticity of the table and confirmed that it was indeed the dining table from the Griswold house. With the help of several donations from museum members, the table was purchased, shipped from Michigan to the Museum, and is currently on display where it belongs, in the dining room of the Griswold house.