NEWPORT, 1780-1800

With its simple proportions, straight edges, and stop-fluted Marlborough legs, this breakfast table epitomizes the elegant simplicity of such tables produced in Newport during the third quarter of the 18th century. Introduced by Thomas Chippendale in the 1754 edition of his Director, the basic form was adopted by American craftsmen in various urban centers including Philadelphia, Boston, and Newport by the third quarter of the century. A similar table with larger proportions is illustrated in David L. Barquist, American Tables and Looking Glasses in the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, 1992), fig. 58, p.145.