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Lot Essay
Combining exquisite craftsmanship and large, dramatically grained mahogany boards, this dining table represents the height of the form in mid-eighteenth century Newport. The applied ogee molding on the short rails, slender cabriole legs and distinctive ball-and-claw feet are identical to those seen on an oval-leaf dining table signed and dated John Townsend 1756 (fig. 1). Because of these features, this table has previously been ascribed to the shop of the renowned cabinetmaker by Morrison H. Heckscher, the scholars at the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery and Michael Moses (Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker (New York, 2005), p. 76; the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF915; Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1984), p. 150). The open-talon feet on both tables are distinguished by their pronounced tendons, lack of webbing and the close positioning of the first and second knuckles on the central talon. Similarly, the cabriole legs of each appear to be of the same design, which Heckscher characterizes as of "exceptional grace and elegance" (Heckscher, p. 74).
Details in its construction, however, reveal differences from the documented practices of Townsend that suggest that the table was either made while Townsend was experimenting with his methods or that it was made in a separate, but closely affiliated, shop. As seen in the table in fig. 1, Townsend's bracing system for dining tables, straight or serpentine-front card tables, and Pembroke tables comprised of three dovetailed braces joining the top edges of the long rails and two, sometimes three, dovetailed braces joining the lower edges of these rails, a configuration that the cabinetmaker appears to have used consistently over the course of his career (Liza and Mike Moses, "Authenticating John Townsend's Later Tables," The Magazine Antiques (May 1981), pp. 1152-1163). In contrast, the table offered here, now with two later braces, displays evidence indicating that it was originally fitted with only two dovetailed braces joining the top rails. This variance from Townsend's known practices does not necessarily rule out his authorship and may indicate that the table was made prior to 1756, by which time, as the table in fig. 1 suggests, the cabinetmaker had adopted his preferred bracing system.
Another possibility is that the table was made in the shop of Townsend's father and master, Christopher Townsend (1701-1787). As John trained in his father's shop and perhaps worked closely with him as late as the mid 1760s, their woodworking practices would have been very similar and as such, Luke Beckerdite notes that distinguishing the work of the two remains somewhat elusive. Though lacking the refinement of open-talons, the ball-and-claw feet on a high chest attributed by Beckerdite to Christopher Townsend display the characteristics described above, as does an oval drop-leaf dining table with turned rather than cabriole legs, which Beckerdite cites as "probably by Christopher or John Townsend." If the two were working in the same shop when this table was made, it could very well reflect the handiwork of both craftsmen (Luke Beckerdite, "The Early Furniture of Christopher and Job Townsend," American Furniture 2000, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2000), pp. 10-11, 17, figs. 20, 31, 32; as cited by Beckerdite, evidence for John and Christopher Townsend working closely together, if not in the same shop, in the 1760s is noted in Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., The Arts and Crafts of Newport Rhode Island, 1640-1820 (Newport, 1954), pp. 16-17). A similar attribution to Christopher Townsend is given by Liza and Mike Moses in their discussion of a tray-top tea table with legs and feet in John Townsend's style, but with only one upper brace and, like the table offered here, lacking lower braces entirely (Liza Moses and Michael Moses, "Authenticating John Townsend's and John Goddard's Queen Anne and Chippendale Tables," The Magazine Antiques (May 1982), pp. 1139-1141, figs. 30, 30a). The table offered here features distinctive markings used in its assembly, details that may later link it to a specific shop. These include a number of inscribed 'X' marks on the underside and interior rails and gouged numerals indicating each hinge cut-out. Without removing the top, such numerals are only visible adjacent to the two hinges revealed by the swing legs, which are marked I and IIII.
Comprising vast expanses of imported mahogany, here with swirling grain on the drop leaves and plum-pudding mottling on the center, dining tables of this size would have been particularly expensive and are rare today. Only a few with cabriole legs and John Townsend's style of ball-and-claw feet are known and beside the signed example in fig. 1, include tables in the Art Institute of Chicago and two in private collections (The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF914, RIF498; John S. Walton, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (September 1976), p. 380). Of these, the table offered here is the only one with rectangular rather than oval leaves.
Details in its construction, however, reveal differences from the documented practices of Townsend that suggest that the table was either made while Townsend was experimenting with his methods or that it was made in a separate, but closely affiliated, shop. As seen in the table in fig. 1, Townsend's bracing system for dining tables, straight or serpentine-front card tables, and Pembroke tables comprised of three dovetailed braces joining the top edges of the long rails and two, sometimes three, dovetailed braces joining the lower edges of these rails, a configuration that the cabinetmaker appears to have used consistently over the course of his career (Liza and Mike Moses, "Authenticating John Townsend's Later Tables," The Magazine Antiques (May 1981), pp. 1152-1163). In contrast, the table offered here, now with two later braces, displays evidence indicating that it was originally fitted with only two dovetailed braces joining the top rails. This variance from Townsend's known practices does not necessarily rule out his authorship and may indicate that the table was made prior to 1756, by which time, as the table in fig. 1 suggests, the cabinetmaker had adopted his preferred bracing system.
Another possibility is that the table was made in the shop of Townsend's father and master, Christopher Townsend (1701-1787). As John trained in his father's shop and perhaps worked closely with him as late as the mid 1760s, their woodworking practices would have been very similar and as such, Luke Beckerdite notes that distinguishing the work of the two remains somewhat elusive. Though lacking the refinement of open-talons, the ball-and-claw feet on a high chest attributed by Beckerdite to Christopher Townsend display the characteristics described above, as does an oval drop-leaf dining table with turned rather than cabriole legs, which Beckerdite cites as "probably by Christopher or John Townsend." If the two were working in the same shop when this table was made, it could very well reflect the handiwork of both craftsmen (Luke Beckerdite, "The Early Furniture of Christopher and Job Townsend," American Furniture 2000, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2000), pp. 10-11, 17, figs. 20, 31, 32; as cited by Beckerdite, evidence for John and Christopher Townsend working closely together, if not in the same shop, in the 1760s is noted in Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., The Arts and Crafts of Newport Rhode Island, 1640-1820 (Newport, 1954), pp. 16-17). A similar attribution to Christopher Townsend is given by Liza and Mike Moses in their discussion of a tray-top tea table with legs and feet in John Townsend's style, but with only one upper brace and, like the table offered here, lacking lower braces entirely (Liza Moses and Michael Moses, "Authenticating John Townsend's and John Goddard's Queen Anne and Chippendale Tables," The Magazine Antiques (May 1982), pp. 1139-1141, figs. 30, 30a). The table offered here features distinctive markings used in its assembly, details that may later link it to a specific shop. These include a number of inscribed 'X' marks on the underside and interior rails and gouged numerals indicating each hinge cut-out. Without removing the top, such numerals are only visible adjacent to the two hinges revealed by the swing legs, which are marked I and IIII.
Comprising vast expanses of imported mahogany, here with swirling grain on the drop leaves and plum-pudding mottling on the center, dining tables of this size would have been particularly expensive and are rare today. Only a few with cabriole legs and John Townsend's style of ball-and-claw feet are known and beside the signed example in fig. 1, include tables in the Art Institute of Chicago and two in private collections (The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF914, RIF498; John S. Walton, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (September 1976), p. 380). Of these, the table offered here is the only one with rectangular rather than oval leaves.