John Goddard
Card Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Card Table
Datec. 1755–1785
Made inNewport, Rhode Island, United States
MediumMahogany; soft maple, eastern white pine, and red cedar
DimensionsOpen: 27 5/8 × 34 1/4 × 34 in. (70.1 × 87 × 86.4 cm)
Closed: 28 3/8 × 34 1/4 × 18 1/8 in. (72.1 × 87 × 46 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.88
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Drawing Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Newport card tables exhibit a variety of contoured fronts and tops, including half-round shape ends, rounded ends, cyma-curved with blocked ends, blocked centers, and ends with blocked corners and a straight front. The Bayou Bend table, representing the latter configuration, in all probability was modeled after tables produced in Boston or New York, where this shape was more prevalent. The juxtaposition of claw and pad feet is characteristic of Newport, as well as New York and England, and presumably indicates a conscious choice to control costs.

Related examples: Carpenter 1954, p. 93, no. 65; Nutting 1962, nos. 792–96; Antiques 102 (August 1972), p. 188; Antiques 121 (May 1982), p. 1226; Moses 1984, p. 120; Sotheby’s, New York, sale 6763, October 22, 1995, lot 270; Sotheby’s, New York, sale 6899, October 19, 1996, lot 242

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.


Provenance[St. James Gallery, by June 5, 1950]; [Ginsburg & Levy, New York, June 5, 1950–June 29, 1953]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, June 29, 1953; given to MFAH, by 1966 [1].

[1] Letter from Miss Ima Hogg to Lee H. B. Malone, Director of MFAH, giving the card table to the MFAH, December 23, 1953. In 1969, the accession number later changed from MFA53.49 to B.69.88.
Exhibition History

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Inside well: 25689 [chalk]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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
Card Table
John Goddard
c. 1760–1780
Mahogany; pine, white oak, and maple
B.99.25
Card Table
c. 1740–1750
Mahogany; mahogany, black walnut, soft maple, eastern white pine, and basswood
B.69.132
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
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
Bureau Table
Thomas Spencer
c. 1780–1785
Mahogany; mahogany, eastern white pine, chestnut, soft maple, and yellow poplar
B.92.6
Gentleman's Secretary
c. 1790–1820
Mahogany, eastern white pine, soft maple, and unidentified inlay; birch, yellow-poplar, and eastern white pine
B.61.94
Chamber Table
c. 1690–1710
Red oak; eastern white pine, soft maple, and hemlock
B.70.24
Card Table
Marinus Willet and Jonathan Pearsee
c. 1763–1775
Mahogany; eastern white pine, red gum, and white oak
B.69.24
Card Table
c. 1800–1820
Mahogany and unidentified inlay; hard maple, hickory, and eastern white pine
B.65.9
Sideboard
Joseph Meeks & Sons
c. 1825–1835
Gilded mahogany and mahogany veneer; white oak, soft maple, ash, eastern white pine, and yellow-poplar
B.67.6