Card Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Card Table
Datec. 1760–1800
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumMahogany; hickory and Atlantic white cedar
DimensionsOpen: 29 1/4 × 36 3/4 × 36 in. (74.3 × 93.3 × 91.4 cm)
Closed: 30 1/8 × 36 3/4 × 18 3/4 in. (76.5 × 93.3 × 47.6 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.19
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Philadelphia Hall (Downstairs)
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This superb table exemplifies a type introduced during the Late Baroque period that persisted into the Rococo. Both the 1772 and 1786 Philadelphia price lists record “Card tables With Round Corners” as one of three models available. The simplest rendition, with “Claw feet & plain knees,” was £5, as compared to tables with Marlborough feet or crooked legs listed at £3 and £3.10.0, respectively. “Leaves on knees & carved molding” increased the price another three pounds, while the addition of “Carved Rales” raised it two more, for a total of £10, making it the most expensive table one could order.

Related examples: Downs 1952, no.343; Antiques 94 (September 1968), p. 302; Hummel 1976, pp. 108, 113–14; Cooper 1980, p. 192; Burke 1981, pp. 114–15; Flanigan 1986, pp. 44–45; Conger 1991, p. 166–67, no. 80; Sotheby’s, New York, sale 6132, January 30–February 2, 1991, lot 1459, now at Chipstone, and one at PMA (acc. no. 67–69–1). The Bayou Bend table’s carving relates to that on a slab table illustrated in Downs 1952, no. 359.

Book excerpt: Warren, David B., Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


ProvenanceBy tradition George Ross (1730–1779), Philadelphia; inherited by his son George Ross (1752–1832); inherited by his daughter Eliza (Mrs. Abraham Carpenter, 1797–1871); inherited by her daughter Caroline Orrick Carpenter (Mrs. David G. Eshleman, 1828–1900); inherited by her grandson John Hobart MacMurdy, Jr. (1873–1944); [Albert Duveen (1892–1965), New York, by 1943]; [Ginsburg & Levy, New York, October 1943–October 28, 1952]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, October 28, 1952; given to MFAH, 1969.
Exhibition History
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed on inside rail: D.G. Eshelman
Branded: HK

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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High Chest of Drawers
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; mahogany, Atlantic white cedar, cedar, southern yellow pine, and yellow-poplar
B.69.75
Dressing Table
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; southern yellow pine, yellow-poplar, and Atlantic white cedar
B.58.147
Dressing Table
Thomas White
c. 1756–1776
Mahogany; southern yellow pine and Atlantic white cedar
B.87.12
Chest-on-Chest
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; mahogany, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, white oak, and southern yellow pine
B.69.74
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany and red gum; black cherry, eastern white pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.23.2
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; Atlantic white cedar, eastern white pine, and spruce
B.58.146.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany and red gum; black cherry, eastern white pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.23.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.77.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.77.2
Side Chair
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; southern yellow pine, Atlantic white cedar, and yellow-poplar
B.69.80
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; Atlantic white cedar and yellow-poplar
B.58.146.2
scan from file photograph
c. 1760–1800
Black walnut; red gum, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and eastern white pine
B.69.527