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Lot Essay
Displaying a top with dramatic and vibrant mahogany graining and a base carved by one of the most accomplished carvers of the era, this tea table is a resplendent survival of eighteenth-century Philadelphia cabinetmaking. The table's leg carving displays the distinctive hand of London-trained John Pollard (1740-1787), notable for his exquisite ornament carved in high relief. Here, the figure-of-eight and pendant bell-flower motif illustrates one of Pollard's most favored designs. It appears in related form on the Biddle-Cadwalader tea table and the suite of furniture made for David Deshler (Christie's, New York, 18-19 January 2001, lot 119, 19 January 2024, lot 503). Similarly designed and executed bellflowers were chosen by Pollard to embellish some of the most celebrated furniture from Philadelphia's Rococo era, including the hairy-paw saddle-seat chairs made for General John Cadwalader and a set of chairs made for Charles Thomson. Other carved ornament thought to be the work of Pollard include the architectural interiors of the Stamper-Blackwell and Ringgold parlors, now in the collections of Winterthur Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art (Christie's, New York, 14 October 1999, lot 174; Christie's, New York, 28 September 2011, lot 13; Leroy Graves and Luke Beckerdite, 'New Insights on John Cadwalader's Commode-Seat Side Chairs,' American Furniture 2000, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (The Chipstone Foundation, 2000), pp. 152-168; Andrew Brunk, 'Benjamin Randolph Revisited,' American Furniture 2007, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (The Chipstone Foundation, 2007), pp. 6-9, 30-32).
With a close working relationship between John Pollard and the cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph (1721-1791), it is possible that this tea table was made in Randolph's shop. Pollard immigrated to Philadelphia in the early 1760s and by 1765 was working in Randolph's shop along with the carver Hercules Courtenay (ca. 1740-1784), who had trained under Thomas Johnson in London. After Courtenay established his own business in the summer of 1769, Pollard was the leading carver in Randolph's shop until sometime before February 22, 1773 when he advertised a partnership with Richard Butts, their business located between Third and Fourth Streets on Chestnut Street and opposite Carpenters' Hall. Randolph and Pollard continued to work together after this time and as noted by Andrew Brunk, Randolph made significant payments to the carver as late as 1775. Pollard later married twice and was baptized as an adult at Christ Church, where his son named George Washington Pollard was baptized in 1780. Pollard died in 1787 and was buried in St. Peter's Churchyard, his tombstone referring to his age as forty-seven and his occupation as 'carver' (Brunk, pp. 5, 6, 28; Graves and Beckerdite, p. 156; Beatrice B. Garvan, Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia, 1976), p. 114).
Like the marble-top table in the following lot, this tea table descended to the twentieth century from Chief Justice Benjamin Chew (1722-1810) and may have been ordered by Chew to furnish Cliveden, his country seat in Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), built between 1763 and 1767. The table may also have been part of the furnishings of Governor John Penn's South Third Street townhouse, which, presumably along with its furnishings, was purchased by Chew upon Penn's departure for England in 1771 (Raymond V. Shepherd, Jr., 'Cliveden and Its Philadelphia-Chippendale Furniture: A Documented History,' American Art Journal, vol. VIII, no. 2 (November, 1976), pp. 2-16). See also following lot.
With a close working relationship between John Pollard and the cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph (1721-1791), it is possible that this tea table was made in Randolph's shop. Pollard immigrated to Philadelphia in the early 1760s and by 1765 was working in Randolph's shop along with the carver Hercules Courtenay (ca. 1740-1784), who had trained under Thomas Johnson in London. After Courtenay established his own business in the summer of 1769, Pollard was the leading carver in Randolph's shop until sometime before February 22, 1773 when he advertised a partnership with Richard Butts, their business located between Third and Fourth Streets on Chestnut Street and opposite Carpenters' Hall. Randolph and Pollard continued to work together after this time and as noted by Andrew Brunk, Randolph made significant payments to the carver as late as 1775. Pollard later married twice and was baptized as an adult at Christ Church, where his son named George Washington Pollard was baptized in 1780. Pollard died in 1787 and was buried in St. Peter's Churchyard, his tombstone referring to his age as forty-seven and his occupation as 'carver' (Brunk, pp. 5, 6, 28; Graves and Beckerdite, p. 156; Beatrice B. Garvan, Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia, 1976), p. 114).
Like the marble-top table in the following lot, this tea table descended to the twentieth century from Chief Justice Benjamin Chew (1722-1810) and may have been ordered by Chew to furnish Cliveden, his country seat in Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), built between 1763 and 1767. The table may also have been part of the furnishings of Governor John Penn's South Third Street townhouse, which, presumably along with its furnishings, was purchased by Chew upon Penn's departure for England in 1771 (Raymond V. Shepherd, Jr., 'Cliveden and Its Philadelphia-Chippendale Furniture: A Documented History,' American Art Journal, vol. VIII, no. 2 (November, 1976), pp. 2-16). See also following lot.