Lot Essay
Graceful curves and the addition of a drawer distinguish this tea table as one of the most sophisticated American examples of the tray-top form. Derived from Chinese and English sources, the form was popular in New England from the 1740s through the 1770s and, with slender cabriole legs and uninterrupted continuity between the legs and skirt, this table epitomizes the delicate aesthetic of Boston-area craftsmanship during the Queen Anne era. Like most survivals, the table is embellished with a coved rim with cusped corners that protected fragile ceramics used for the serving of tea. Glued to the frame, the shaped convex skirt employs contrasting pendant and undercut curves and, the only example known with this particular pattern, is more complex than the various opposing-ogee designs seen on comparable tables. Many of these have a beaded molding applied to the frame just above the juncture of the skirt. The absence of this detail on this table emphasizes the skirt's contours. The table is also the only known of this tray-top form with a drawer fitted into the frame. While most others lack any sliding element, several have candle slides in the shorter rails.
With its superlative design and pristine condition, the table has been acclaimed in previous scholarship. Noting its symmetry and addition of a drawer, Albert Sack hailed the table as 'a true American classic' and placed it in his most prestigious category of 'best' (Israel Sack, Inc., Fine Points of Furniture, Early American (New York, 1950), p. 247). Later, Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bates remarked on its 'outstanding proportions' and 'splendid sweep' and illustrated the underside of the table to demonstrate the appropriate oxidation and wear evident on furniture surviving from the eighteenth century (Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture 1620 to the Present (New York, 1981), p. 124).
The table also bears a clue to its eighteenth-century ownership. Old chalk initials, AO, on the underside of the drawer show consistent age with the rest of the white pine bottom board and appear to be original or inscribed soon after the table's production. While the initials could refer to the table's maker, no cabinetmaker with those initials is known to have been working in Massachusetts during the eighteenth century. Instead, the initials most likely refer to the table's owner. Not many surnames from the era begin with 'O' and as the table would have been affordable to a very few, there are a small number of possible owners. If first owned by a Boston resident, the table may have been owned by the Oliver or Otis families, Boston's only prominent families with surnames beginning with 'O.' As there does not appear to be a likely Otis family member with a first name beginning with 'A,' the table was very possibly owned by one of the three Oliver family members with these initials: Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver (1706-1774); his son Andrew Oliver (1731-1799); and their distant relative Alexander Oliver (1752-1831). Andrew Oliver, Sr. was the infamous stamp officer following the passage of the 1765 Stamp Act and, in 1773, after revelations of his support of coercive measures against the colonists, a mob besieged his brick house. The following year, he died and an inventory of his estate reveals a lavishly furnished home as well as several other properties with expensive goods, including two tea tables and a square table (Alice Hanson Jones, American Colonial Wealth: Documents and Methods (New York, 1977), vol. II, pp. 966-971). His son, Andrew Oliver, Jr. resided in Salem and married in 1752, around the time of the table's production. Too young to have been the table's first owner, Alexander Oliver was born in Boston and later removed to New York.
As stated in its 1970 advertisement, the table was purchased by the pioneer collector Charles Krum Davis (1889-1968) from Israel Sack, Inc. in the 1930s. Davis was a colleague and friend of Henry Francis du Pont and formed one of the most important collections of early Americana (The Magazine Antiques (January 1941), pp. 18-21; Wendy A. Cooper, 'H. F. du Pont's Fondness for Furniture: A Collecting Odyssey,' The Magazine Antiques (January 2002), p. 162-163; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. V, p. 1312). One of his prized possessions, the table was the centerpiece of the Davis's living room.
For other Queen Anne tray-top tea tables, see Wendy Cooper, In Praise of America (New York, 1980), p. 193, p. 216; Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture (Boston, 1984), cat. 67, pp. 286-288; Christie's New York, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy Nicholson, January 27-28, 1995, lot 1045; Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture (New York, 1993), pp. 260, 261, 266).
With its superlative design and pristine condition, the table has been acclaimed in previous scholarship. Noting its symmetry and addition of a drawer, Albert Sack hailed the table as 'a true American classic' and placed it in his most prestigious category of 'best' (Israel Sack, Inc., Fine Points of Furniture, Early American (New York, 1950), p. 247). Later, Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bates remarked on its 'outstanding proportions' and 'splendid sweep' and illustrated the underside of the table to demonstrate the appropriate oxidation and wear evident on furniture surviving from the eighteenth century (Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture 1620 to the Present (New York, 1981), p. 124).
The table also bears a clue to its eighteenth-century ownership. Old chalk initials, AO, on the underside of the drawer show consistent age with the rest of the white pine bottom board and appear to be original or inscribed soon after the table's production. While the initials could refer to the table's maker, no cabinetmaker with those initials is known to have been working in Massachusetts during the eighteenth century. Instead, the initials most likely refer to the table's owner. Not many surnames from the era begin with 'O' and as the table would have been affordable to a very few, there are a small number of possible owners. If first owned by a Boston resident, the table may have been owned by the Oliver or Otis families, Boston's only prominent families with surnames beginning with 'O.' As there does not appear to be a likely Otis family member with a first name beginning with 'A,' the table was very possibly owned by one of the three Oliver family members with these initials: Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver (1706-1774); his son Andrew Oliver (1731-1799); and their distant relative Alexander Oliver (1752-1831). Andrew Oliver, Sr. was the infamous stamp officer following the passage of the 1765 Stamp Act and, in 1773, after revelations of his support of coercive measures against the colonists, a mob besieged his brick house. The following year, he died and an inventory of his estate reveals a lavishly furnished home as well as several other properties with expensive goods, including two tea tables and a square table (Alice Hanson Jones, American Colonial Wealth: Documents and Methods (New York, 1977), vol. II, pp. 966-971). His son, Andrew Oliver, Jr. resided in Salem and married in 1752, around the time of the table's production. Too young to have been the table's first owner, Alexander Oliver was born in Boston and later removed to New York.
As stated in its 1970 advertisement, the table was purchased by the pioneer collector Charles Krum Davis (1889-1968) from Israel Sack, Inc. in the 1930s. Davis was a colleague and friend of Henry Francis du Pont and formed one of the most important collections of early Americana (The Magazine Antiques (January 1941), pp. 18-21; Wendy A. Cooper, 'H. F. du Pont's Fondness for Furniture: A Collecting Odyssey,' The Magazine Antiques (January 2002), p. 162-163; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. V, p. 1312). One of his prized possessions, the table was the centerpiece of the Davis's living room.
For other Queen Anne tray-top tea tables, see Wendy Cooper, In Praise of America (New York, 1980), p. 193, p. 216; Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture (Boston, 1984), cat. 67, pp. 286-288; Christie's New York, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy Nicholson, January 27-28, 1995, lot 1045; Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture (New York, 1993), pp. 260, 261, 266).