BOSTON OR COASTAL ESSEX COUNTY, 1760-1780

A popular New England form, this tilt-top tea table is notable for its distinctive carving and exquisite craftsmanship. The combination of such features as the squared serpentine top, column and urn pedestal and cabriole legs terminating in pad or snake feet represent the base model for this form. The "rat's-paw" feet seen here are less common and frequently found in more elaborate models from the region. The diaper-within-cartouche carving, however, is an extremely rare detail of this design and has been observed on only one additional tea table in a private collection. Taking into consideration the skill of the craftsman who executed the carving and the undoubtedly high cost of such embellishment, this table was likely made in an urban setting with sufficient patronage that could support specialist carvers, such as Salem or Boston.

For additional examples of Massachusetts tea tables with square tops with serpentine edges, see Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), pp. 296-297, 302; David L. Barquist, American Tables and Looking Glasses in the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, 1992), p. 232; Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods (Winterthur, 1997), pp. 276-277.