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拍品专文
Distinguished by its superlative foot carving, dense San Domingo mahogany and large size, this drop-leaf dining table exhibits the robust and confident craftsmanship of John Goddard (1724-1785). As noted by Joseph K. Ott in 1965, the open-talon feet, here carefully preserved over the generations, were challenging designs to execute and were only attempted in America by Newport's master cabinetmakers. Enlivened by open spaces above each ball, as well as between the claws and balls, this table's feet are particularly remarkable. Early on, this table was believed to have been made by Goddard, a supposition confirmed by later studies that demonstrate Goddard's hand in details such as the carving and construction.
Each magnificent, sculptural forms, the table's ball-and-claw feet bear hallmark features seen on feet carved in Goddard's shop. Those on this table are remarkably similar to those on a tea table that Goddard made for Jabez Bowen in 1763, which documents Goddard's particular style of open-talon ball-and-claw feet (fig. 1). Displaying rounded and evenly spaced knuckles, "relaxed birdlike claws," and a pronounced bulb at the top of the rear talon, Goddard's style contrasts with the more angular renditions produced by John Townsend (1733-1809) (for examples of John Townsend's open-talon feet, see lot 145; see also Liza Moses and Michael Moses, "Authenticating John Townsend's and John Goddard's Queen Anne and Chippendale tables," The Magazine Antiques (May 1982), p. 1132; Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1984), p. 210; Philip Zea, "The Serpentine Furniture of Colonial Newport," American Furniture 1999, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1999), p. 262).
The presence of "pass through" cross braces supporting the table's frame further corroborates the attribution to Goddard. While cross braces were devices also used by Townsend, braces that "pass through" both the stationary and swing rails have only been found, according to Michael Moses, on furniture documented or attributed to Goddard. The former comprises a dining table, which survives with its bill of sale indicating that it was made by Goddard in late 1773 for James Atkinson. Moses notes that the table offered here and the Atkinson example feature similar bracing and only differ in the central brace. While the Atkinson form has a narrow board placed horizontally, the table offered here has a board placed vertically that is the full height of the frame's rails and joined to the frame at each end with two through dovetails. Other furniture with related central cross bracing attributed to or associated with Goddard includes a dining table in the collection of Chipstone and a card table (Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., The Arts and Crafts of Newport Rhode Island, 1640-1820 (Newport, 1954), p. 87, cat. 59; Moses 1982, pp. 1132, 1137, figs. 4, 4a, 20; Moses 1984, pp. 207, 210-211, 219, 230, figs. 4.6, 5.6, 5.19a).
As outlined in a letter written by Benjamin Ginsburg, whose firm sold the table to Joseph K. Ott, the table was purchased from a woman living in New York who was a direct descendant of William Smith of Providence. The William Smith is not identified, but presumably he is believed to have been the first owner of the table. The family moved from Providence to Worcester, Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century where one family member married secondly a Parisian. The table was moved to Paris in about 1930 and returned to Rhode Island shortly before it was acquired by the firm of Ginsburg & Levy (Letter, Benjamin Ginsburg to Joseph K. Ott, 5 January 1962, Joseph K. Ott Papers).
Each magnificent, sculptural forms, the table's ball-and-claw feet bear hallmark features seen on feet carved in Goddard's shop. Those on this table are remarkably similar to those on a tea table that Goddard made for Jabez Bowen in 1763, which documents Goddard's particular style of open-talon ball-and-claw feet (fig. 1). Displaying rounded and evenly spaced knuckles, "relaxed birdlike claws," and a pronounced bulb at the top of the rear talon, Goddard's style contrasts with the more angular renditions produced by John Townsend (1733-1809) (for examples of John Townsend's open-talon feet, see lot 145; see also Liza Moses and Michael Moses, "Authenticating John Townsend's and John Goddard's Queen Anne and Chippendale tables," The Magazine Antiques (May 1982), p. 1132; Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1984), p. 210; Philip Zea, "The Serpentine Furniture of Colonial Newport," American Furniture 1999, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1999), p. 262).
The presence of "pass through" cross braces supporting the table's frame further corroborates the attribution to Goddard. While cross braces were devices also used by Townsend, braces that "pass through" both the stationary and swing rails have only been found, according to Michael Moses, on furniture documented or attributed to Goddard. The former comprises a dining table, which survives with its bill of sale indicating that it was made by Goddard in late 1773 for James Atkinson. Moses notes that the table offered here and the Atkinson example feature similar bracing and only differ in the central brace. While the Atkinson form has a narrow board placed horizontally, the table offered here has a board placed vertically that is the full height of the frame's rails and joined to the frame at each end with two through dovetails. Other furniture with related central cross bracing attributed to or associated with Goddard includes a dining table in the collection of Chipstone and a card table (Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., The Arts and Crafts of Newport Rhode Island, 1640-1820 (Newport, 1954), p. 87, cat. 59; Moses 1982, pp. 1132, 1137, figs. 4, 4a, 20; Moses 1984, pp. 207, 210-211, 219, 230, figs. 4.6, 5.6, 5.19a).
As outlined in a letter written by Benjamin Ginsburg, whose firm sold the table to Joseph K. Ott, the table was purchased from a woman living in New York who was a direct descendant of William Smith of Providence. The William Smith is not identified, but presumably he is believed to have been the first owner of the table. The family moved from Providence to Worcester, Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century where one family member married secondly a Parisian. The table was moved to Paris in about 1930 and returned to Rhode Island shortly before it was acquired by the firm of Ginsburg & Levy (Letter, Benjamin Ginsburg to Joseph K. Ott, 5 January 1962, Joseph K. Ott Papers).