Lot Essay
The arrival of such highly skilled, London trained carvers in Philadelphia during the mid-1760s as Hercules Courtenay (1744?-1784) and John Pollard (1740-1787) resulted in several of the most urbane and accomplished manifestations of the 18th century British Rococo in America. While numerous examples of this piecrust tilt-top form exist, including several with meandering foliage-carved flattened ball pedestals, the deeply carved, asymmetrical twisting leaves and C-scrolls of the cabriole legs of the table illustrated here place it at height of the Philadelphia Rococo aesthetic.
Several features of the knee carving of this table relate it specifically to the work of Hercules Courtenay. In addition to the multiple leaf overlays characteristic of Courtenay's work and not seen in Philadelphia carved work prior to his arrival in that city in c. 1766, the carving of this table also shares a similarly complex arrangement of scrolls, and carved leaves defined by raised spines, deep flutes, deeply undercuts leaf edges, and a small pendant twists at the leaf's end extreme (Beckerdite, "Philadelphia Carving Shops, Part III: Hercules Courtenay and his School," The Magazine Antiques, May 1987, vol CXXXI, no. 5, pp. 1044 - 1063; see fig. 3, p. 1052). Other examples of Courtenay's work include most likely not only the architectural mantle carving of the Powel House (Philadelphia Museum of Art), the carving of the "Pompadour" ;highchest and companion dressing table in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of art, American Wing (see Hecksher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Late Colonial Period: The queen Anne and Chippendale Styles, (New York, 1985), pp. 258-261, figs. 168, 169), as well as a piecrust tea table formerly in the collection of Louis Guerineau Myers, also now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's highly carved Philadelphia rococo tea table bears a particularly important relationship to the tea table illustrated here. The carved twisted vine distinguishing the flattened ball of the MMA example is directly comparable to the carved twist of the C-scroll on the knee of the table illustrated here. Most likely worked by the same skilled craftsman, the two tables traditionally been associated with each other as products of the same shop (see Hecksher, pp. 193-194, fig. 123; and Sack, The Magazine Antiques, May 1953, vol. LXIII, no. 5, p. 383). A direct comparison of the tops of the two tables reveals the same grain pattern, thus suggesting the two tops were even turned from the same flitch. Over and beyond the luxury implicit in commissioning work from an artisan such as Courtenay, the 1786 Philadelphia book of prices shows the form itself from any source was a significant investment. A "Scollop'd Top" table with "claw feet," and carved with "Leaves on the knees," could be purchased and mahogany for #5-15-0; fluting the pillar could be had for and additional 5 shillings (Hecksher, p. 193).
Several features of the knee carving of this table relate it specifically to the work of Hercules Courtenay. In addition to the multiple leaf overlays characteristic of Courtenay's work and not seen in Philadelphia carved work prior to his arrival in that city in c. 1766, the carving of this table also shares a similarly complex arrangement of scrolls, and carved leaves defined by raised spines, deep flutes, deeply undercuts leaf edges, and a small pendant twists at the leaf's end extreme (Beckerdite, "Philadelphia Carving Shops, Part III: Hercules Courtenay and his School," The Magazine Antiques, May 1987, vol CXXXI, no. 5, pp. 1044 - 1063; see fig. 3, p. 1052). Other examples of Courtenay's work include most likely not only the architectural mantle carving of the Powel House (Philadelphia Museum of Art), the carving of the "Pompadour" ;highchest and companion dressing table in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of art, American Wing (see Hecksher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Late Colonial Period: The queen Anne and Chippendale Styles, (New York, 1985), pp. 258-261, figs. 168, 169), as well as a piecrust tea table formerly in the collection of Louis Guerineau Myers, also now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's highly carved Philadelphia rococo tea table bears a particularly important relationship to the tea table illustrated here. The carved twisted vine distinguishing the flattened ball of the MMA example is directly comparable to the carved twist of the C-scroll on the knee of the table illustrated here. Most likely worked by the same skilled craftsman, the two tables traditionally been associated with each other as products of the same shop (see Hecksher, pp. 193-194, fig. 123; and Sack, The Magazine Antiques, May 1953, vol. LXIII, no. 5, p. 383). A direct comparison of the tops of the two tables reveals the same grain pattern, thus suggesting the two tops were even turned from the same flitch. Over and beyond the luxury implicit in commissioning work from an artisan such as Courtenay, the 1786 Philadelphia book of prices shows the form itself from any source was a significant investment. A "Scollop'd Top" table with "claw feet," and carved with "Leaves on the knees," could be purchased and mahogany for #5-15-0; fluting the pillar could be had for and additional 5 shillings (Hecksher, p. 193).