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Lot Essay
The apparent mate to this table is in the collections of the Mills Mansion on the Hudson River, and descended in the Livingston, Lewis and Hoyt families. These tables share the distinctive features of dolphin feet, finely sculpted griffins, and identical brass mounts on the skirts. It is not known when the tables were separated, and the early history of this table has been lost, but they are distinctive enough within the known surviving New York tables to conjecture that they were made as a pair and likely separated in the 19th or early twentieth century. The Livingston's were known patrons of Duncan Phyfe's shop (see Nancy McClelland, Duncan Phyfe and the English Regency (New York, 1939) p. 278-279).
A number of other classical tables with griffin supports are known, with a range of variations in detail. A pair of tables at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston have related griffins and turned and carved rear supports, but have carved paw feet and stenciled decoration, rather than dolphin feet and brass ornaments (see Bates and Fairbanks, American Furniture 1620 to the Present (New York 1981) p. 271). Other examples with paw feet include a privately owned example (see Peter Kenny, Honoré Lannuier (New York, 1998) p. 95), and a table with related carved phoenix supports is in the collections of Yale University Art Gallery (see David Barquist, American Tables and Looking Glasses (New Haven, 1992) p. 229). A group of tables with carved dolphin feet is also known, and are attributed to the New York makers Deming and Bulkley (see McInnis and Leath, "New York Furniture for Charleston" in Beckerdite, ed., American Furniture (Chipstone Foundation, 1996) p. 137-174).
A number of other classical tables with griffin supports are known, with a range of variations in detail. A pair of tables at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston have related griffins and turned and carved rear supports, but have carved paw feet and stenciled decoration, rather than dolphin feet and brass ornaments (see Bates and Fairbanks, American Furniture 1620 to the Present (New York 1981) p. 271). Other examples with paw feet include a privately owned example (see Peter Kenny, Honoré Lannuier (New York, 1998) p. 95), and a table with related carved phoenix supports is in the collections of Yale University Art Gallery (see David Barquist, American Tables and Looking Glasses (New Haven, 1992) p. 229). A group of tables with carved dolphin feet is also known, and are attributed to the New York makers Deming and Bulkley (see McInnis and Leath, "New York Furniture for Charleston" in Beckerdite, ed., American Furniture (Chipstone Foundation, 1996) p. 137-174).