SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, 1760-1780

With its vertical, attenuated ball and claw feet and peaked knees, this table is a classic example of Salem cabinetry. The underside reveals original wrought-iron butt hinges that appear to be stamped RF. Identical stamps have been found on hinges on dining tables from Tidewater, Virginia, and while they could refer to a British maker, Ronald Hurst and Jon Prown speculate that they may have been made by Robert Froggett, a blacksmith working in the Fredericksburg-Falmouth, Virginia area from the 1740s to the 1770s (Ronald L. Hurst and Jonathan Prown, Southern Furniture 1680-1830 (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1997), pp. 212, 215, fn. 6; for additional tables with RF hinges, see Sotheby's, New York, October 11, 2001, lot 273; and Christie’s, New York, 29 September 2010, lot 108). If made by Froggett, their presence on the table may have been due to the established trade routes, which frequently made stops up and down the East Coast.