Marinus Willet and Jonathan Pearsee
Card Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Card Table
Datec. 1763–1775
Made inNew York , New York, United States
MediumMahogany; eastern white pine, red gum, and white oak
DimensionsOpen: 26 3/4 × 34 3/4 × 33 3/4 in. (67.9 × 88.3 × 85.7 cm)
Closed: 27 5/8 × 34 3/4 × 17 1/2 in. (70.1 × 88.3 × 44.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.24
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Drawing Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Serpentine-front card tables are the most original and dynamic Rococo furniture forms produced in New York. The design, which appears to have originated there, is characterized by its serpentine facade and the addition of a fifth leg that pivots outward to support the opened top. The knees are ornamented with either a carved leaf or C-scroll design, and the front rail with gadrooning or foliate carving. Typically, the top is cut out for a baize liner, coins and counters, and to accommodate a candlestick at each corner. More than seventy-five examples are recorded, representing several distinct shop traditions; the only one identified is that of Marinus Willett and Jonathan Pearsee, to which the Bayou Bend table is attributed.

Related examples: Morrison Heckscher’s initial study (Heckscher 1973) classifies the Bayou Bend table as Type I, the Van Rensselaer, Group B. Nine other tables are recorded: Monkhouse and Michie 1986, p. 139, no. 77; Barquist, Garrett, and Ward 1992, pp. 46, 167–69, no. 74; Levy 1993, pp. 760–61; one belonging to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri (acc. no. 44–12); the remainder in private collections, one with the chalk signature “Willet.”

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.


ProvenanceLouis Guerineau Myers (1874–1932), New York; consigned to [American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, February 26, 1921, lot 672]; [Joe Kindig, Jr. (1898–1971), York, Pennsylvania]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1949; given to MFAH, 1969.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Inset hinges stamped: H:TIBATS
Stamped beneath gadrooning: [---]4405

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Sofa
c. 1750–1801
Mahogany; red oak, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, white oak, and eastern white pine
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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. 1750–1800
Mahogany and red gum; black cherry, eastern white pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.23.1
Desk and Bookcase
c. 1760–1790
Mahogany; eastern white pine, soft maple, chestnut, red cedar, poplar-aspen or cottonwood, white oak, and Spanish cedar or cedrela
B.69.22
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
Armchair
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany; eastern white pine, ash, red oak, sweetgum, and black cherry
B.60.37.1
Image of B.60.37.2, representative of set
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany; eastern white pine, ash, red oak, sweetgum, and black cherry
B.60.37.2
Image of B.60.37.2, representative of set
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany; eastern white pine, ash, red oak, sweetgum, and black cherry
B.60.37.3
Image of B.60.37.2, representative of set
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany; eastern white pine, ash, red oak, sweetgum, and black cherry
B.60.37.4
Armchair
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany; eastern white pine, ash, red oak, sweetgum, and black cherry
B.60.37.5
Easy Chair
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany and unidentified inlay; ash, eastern white pine, yellow-poplar, and red oak
B.60.93
Roundabout Chair
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany; sweetgum, eastern white pine, and red oak
B.58.107