Chippendale Carved Mahogany Card Table

Object Details

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Object Essay

This “card table with rounded corners,” “claw feet,” carved “leaves on [its] knees,” and a carved ornament in the center of the skirt was a top-of-the-line card table included in the l772 Philadelphia cabinetmakers’ price book. The only options not ordered by the purchaser were the “Green Cloath” to line the playing surface and the additional embellishment of “carved Rales.”^{1_{Weil, 186.}} Despite its quality, this example is much more restrained than the Philadelphia tables made for John Cadwalader about 1770 and other more elaborate tables.^{2_{The Cadwalader tables are discussed in Zimmerman, 193–208.}}

Unlike the two New York Chippendale-style card tables in the Department of State Collection (Acc. Nos. 69.53 and 75.25), this example features projecting rounded corners, often called “turrets,” which were probably designed to hold candlesticks or drinking vessels. The diminutive ball and claw feet and slender ankles are especially graceful here, as is the contour of the top, which rests upon a rectangular frame. This table stands as a good contrast to a related, yet distinctively different, table in the Collection (see Acc. No. 66.114), together shedding light on the Philadelphia aesthetic.^{3_{Related tables are illustrated in Downs 1952, no. 342; Biddle 1963, no. 70; Hornor 1935, pl. 236, with a history in the Drinker family, and in the auction catalogue for Sotheby’s New York, Sale 6132, January 30– February 2, 1991, Lot 1459.}}

This table has been attributed to the shop of James Gillingham because it shares certain characteristics of style with a relatively large body of chairs so attributed over the years. But lacking more evidence, such a specific attribution remains impossible; nevertheless, it is clear that this table emerged from a quality cabinetmaking shop.^{4_{The question of Gillingham chairs is addressed in Kane 1976, no. 94.}}

Gerald W. R. Ward

Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.