Cot

Description

Cot of ash (Fraxinus spp.) and rope. Sawbuck construction, with an octagonal trestle connecting sawbuck ends by means of a round tenon through the center of the X. Leather washers protect the outer surface of the leg from the pin that holds the tenon in place. Tops of the legs are tenoned which are inserted into mortises in the undersides of the side trestles and pinned. A shallow groove has been planed along the center line of the outside surface of these trestles and 11 holes drilled through each trestle through which rope is strung to form an open lattice. Shank and screw holes in leg bottoms indicate that it originally had casters.

Notes

It appears that the rack was designed to be collapsible but that function was eliminated at some point by nailing on a vertical and a horizontal pine cleat to each end.  The donor said that his brother purchased this piece from the Mount Lebanon Shakers in about 1900.