The dining table continued to undergo stylistic and functional adaptations during the Rococo period. The presence of ball-and-claw feet on this example suggests a stylistic evolution, yet concurrently these tables were available with pad feet. The substitution of a square top with flat edges for an oval one with rounded edges introduced greater flexibility. Furthermore, now tables could be ordered in pairs and placed side by side, doubling the expanse of surface space. Cabinetmakers supplied dining tables in different sizes, according to their customer’s requirements. The 1772 and 1786 Philadelphia price lists record the form beginning at “3 feet in the bed,” referring to the width of the rails, and increasing by six-inch increments. They recommended that tables five feet in width have six legs; for those whose width exceeded five feet six inches, eight were recommended.

Related examples: Fales 1976, p. 122, no. 252; Jobe and Kaye 1984, pp. 280–81, no. 64; Heckscher 1985, pp. 179–80, no. 109.

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.