.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Displaying a distinctive combination of expertly crafted inlaid ornament, this demilune card table can be ascribed to the New York City shop of William Whitehead (w. 1792-1799). In particular, the pattern seen on the legs, comprising three string-inlaid chain links punctuated by bellflowers, each with a single pendant tear drop and the whole with two pendant tear drops, is seen on the legs of two sideboards labeled by Whitehead. As the inlay may have been supplied by a specialist, it is the presence of this decoration alongside the paterae heading each leg and elongated oval reserves on the rails that supports an attribution to the cabinetmaker. Seen in the same combination on the sideboards, this successful scheme was evidently repeated by the maker for several commissions. For the sideboards, see Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. 5, no. 29, pp. 1254-1255 and Barry Greenlaw, "American Furniture in Houston Collections," The Magazine Antiques (September 1979), p. 553. A closely related card table is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 10.125.157) and a Pembroke table with the same inlaid ornament sold, Christie’s, New York, 21 January 2011, lot 104.
Joseph Grinnell (1788-1885), of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was president of the First National Bank of New Bedford, of the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad, and of Wamsutta Mills, a textile manufacturer in the city. He was elected to Congress in December 1843, and served through February 1851.
Joseph Grinnell (1788-1885), of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was president of the First National Bank of New Bedford, of the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad, and of Wamsutta Mills, a textile manufacturer in the city. He was elected to Congress in December 1843, and served through February 1851.