This exquisitely crafted dressing table was commissioned by the enslavers Ninian and Penelope Home and would have been used to store make-up, hairbrushes, other beauty items, and possibly jewellery. Penelope Home would have been dressed by her enslaved maid, Martine, who had travelled with the Homes from Grenada in 1788 and remained at Paxton for about 2 years. The last we know of Martine from the Home archives is that she was to return to Grenada via Glasgow, but no-one could be spared to accompany her to the ship.

This is the most intact of the surviving ladies dressing tables commissioned by the Homes, retaining its remarkable sliding, ratcheted mirror, and beautiful fitted interior with a variety of containers and spaces. It was in a very poor state prior to conservation in 2022. There were many detached and damaged sections of veneer and other pieces of mahogany which were mostly retained inside the table. One half of the folding lid had completely detached and part of its veneer had split and lifted.

The Accredited conservator, Fergus Purdy, with grant funding from Museums Galleries Scotland, worked on this piece for two weeks. He worked out where the loose veneer pieces had been originally located, and after repairing and re-assembling the folding lid using hot hide glue, he began the painstaking re-attachments and making of replacement missing sections of veneer, which were then finished, colour matched, and sealed.

Internal dividers were re-assembled, and two replacements were made using antique mahogany. A replacement lid and supporting stilts were made for the front right compartment and fitted with a brass ring handle. Several other repairs were made, and replacements made for missing beading and handles. The table has been quite transformed by this conservation work enabling it to be displayed at its best in the Principal Bedroom where it would have been used in the 18^th century.