Tables such as this represent early efforts by American cabinetmakers to create furniture forms specifically for women. Although needlework was an essential skill and accomplishment for colonial women, specialized furniture to store sewing equipment was not produced until the late-eighteenth century. Prior to that time, women usually kept their work and tools in baskets or in pockets hidden beneath layers of petticoats. British designer Thomas Sheraton, whose work frequently was copied in the United States, defined these sewing or "pouch tables" as "Table with a Bag, used by Ladies to work at, in which bag they deposit their fancy needlework."

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