Lot Essay
The playing of cards or dice was shunned upon by the clergy and conservative members of New England in the early to mid-eighteenth century, yet the large number of extant games tables indicate a penchant for gambling and social camraderie that was evidently embraced by a large segment of the population, particularly as the century progressed. Fitted with sunken wells for counters and inset squared corners for candlesticks, card tables such as this example were outfitted for use into the evening hours, possibly closed up and put aside for some dancing and repast before being opened once again for a late night game.
Embellished with squared corners, acanthus-carved knees, ball-and-claw feet and a drawer for the storage of game pieces, the elaboration of this table indicates that it was 'bespoke,' or custom-ordered at the time it was made. In virtually every respect this table is British in form and was either crafted by a recent immigrant artisan or by someone familiar with English examples (Kirk, American Furniture in the British Tradition (New York, 1982, fig. 1381). Benjamin Frothingham of Charlestown, a craftsman who may have trained under a British cabinetmaker, made a table of this form but somewhat more restrained in ornament with plain cabriole legs and no gadrooned skirt (Downs, American Furniture (New York, 1952), fig. 349, 401; Miller "Roman Gusto in New England," Beckerdite ed., American Furniture (Chipstone, 1993), pp. 161-200). The carved knees with star-punched background suggest an origin in Salem or possibly Boston; family histories suggest that both communities supported craftsmen who made this form of games table and further evidence is required before a more solid attribution may be made in regards to the origin of this table.
Several closely related acanthus carved examples with star-punched knees survive, most of the imprints are on the crease of the knee, however, rather than behind the acanthus leaf as on this table (see Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone - yes? - otherwise in Hewitt); a table branded 'I Cooke' at the University of North Carolina (Decorative Arts Photograph Collection, Winterthur Museum, no. 74 (77); and another example in private hands (DAPC, no. 72.333). The latter table from this group is identical in every feature including the egg-and-dart gadrooning on the skirt, suggesting that the two share a common shop origin.
Embellished with squared corners, acanthus-carved knees, ball-and-claw feet and a drawer for the storage of game pieces, the elaboration of this table indicates that it was 'bespoke,' or custom-ordered at the time it was made. In virtually every respect this table is British in form and was either crafted by a recent immigrant artisan or by someone familiar with English examples (Kirk, American Furniture in the British Tradition (New York, 1982, fig. 1381). Benjamin Frothingham of Charlestown, a craftsman who may have trained under a British cabinetmaker, made a table of this form but somewhat more restrained in ornament with plain cabriole legs and no gadrooned skirt (Downs, American Furniture (New York, 1952), fig. 349, 401; Miller "Roman Gusto in New England," Beckerdite ed., American Furniture (Chipstone, 1993), pp. 161-200). The carved knees with star-punched background suggest an origin in Salem or possibly Boston; family histories suggest that both communities supported craftsmen who made this form of games table and further evidence is required before a more solid attribution may be made in regards to the origin of this table.
Several closely related acanthus carved examples with star-punched knees survive, most of the imprints are on the crease of the knee, however, rather than behind the acanthus leaf as on this table (see Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone - yes? - otherwise in Hewitt); a table branded 'I Cooke' at the University of North Carolina (Decorative Arts Photograph Collection, Winterthur Museum, no. 74 (77); and another example in private hands (DAPC, no. 72.333). The latter table from this group is identical in every feature including the egg-and-dart gadrooning on the skirt, suggesting that the two share a common shop origin.