The Elephant Table

One of the most asked about pieces in the PCHS collection is the Elephant Table. You can see how it got that name! There are four elephant heads, complete with tusks, that make up the four legs of the table. Upon these legs rests a wooden table top. Also forming the base of the table are metal latticework edging plates with butterfly and floral designs. There are two stories as to how this table came to be in the possession of the Sayler-Swartsel families. #1. The wife of Dr. Sayler saw it in a furniture store in Eaton but it was not for sale. When the table was not claimed, she ended up purchasing the table. Later, Harriet Swartsel commented on how much she admired the table and it was given to her. #2. Another local doctor's wife ordered the table through the furniture store in Eaton from overseas. When it arrived, she did not like it. Harriet Swartsel saw it and purchased it herself. A table, just like this one, was recently featured on an episode of "Antiques Roadshow"! The appraiser described the table as being from the Aesthetic Movement which flourished in the United States and England in the late 1800's. The Aesthetic Movement offered artists all kinds of contrast to the lavishness of earlier styles.

Would you like to visit another feature of the Sayler-Swartsel House? If so, click on a link below.

Sayler-Swartsel House	Sara's History	Architecture	The Oldest Piano?
	This publication made possible in part by the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.