Tea Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Tea Table
Datec. 1735–1790
Made inBoston, Massachusetts, United States
MediumMahogany
Dimensions27 3/4 × 32 1/8 × 23 5/8 in. (70.5 × 81.6 × 60 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.362
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Massachusetts Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

The distinctive “turret” top and boldly contoured skirt rails combine to make this tea table one of the Boston cabinetmaker’s most dynamic Late Baroque creations. With its shaped rim, the top secured the tea service, while its semicircular scalloping framed the vessels. When compared with related tables, differences in their design, carving, and even the rim confirm that they represent the work of more than one shop. A documented source for this design has not been identified; however, locally made card tables (see B.69.406, B.69.132), contemporary English card, tea, and supper tables, or even a silver salver could have supplied the prototype.

Technical notes: No original secondary wood survives. All four sides are finished. A coved base molding mirrors the top molding. The rim is integral with the top and except for this component the table retains an old finish.

Related examples: Hipkiss 1941, pp. 112–13, no. 60; Downs 1952, no. 370; Comstock 1957a, p. 258; Randall 1965, pp. 112, 115, 117, no. 81, now identified as having belonged to Ebenezer (b. 1748) and Mary Jones Hall, Medford, Massachusetts; Fales 1976, p. 150, no. 315; Sotheby’s, New York, sale 6051, June 27–28, 1990, lot 549.

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.


ProvenanceFrederick Beck (1818–c.1906), Brookline, Massachusetts; purchased by Miss Hogg from the Louis E. Brooks Collection, Marshall, Michigan, through Israel Sack, New York, October 24, 1951; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Exhibition History

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Tea Table
c. 1735–1780
Mahogany; mahogany and cherry
B.54.10
Tripod Table
no date
Mahogany
96.1594
Supper Table
no date
Mahogany
96.1584
Dressing Table
c. 1780–1800
Cherrywood
B.2015.17
Center Table
Deming & Bulkley
c. 1825–1835
Mahogany; eastern white pine, cherry, paint, and gilt
B.69.526
Bureau Table
Thomas Spencer
c. 1780–1785
Mahogany; mahogany, eastern white pine, chestnut, soft maple, and yellow poplar
B.92.6
Games Table
c. 1730
Walnut
96.1569
Supper Table
20th century
Japanned
96.1457
Center Table
c. 1725
Hardwood
94.1151
Bedstead
mid 18th century
Mahogany, parcel gilt
96.1692.A-.J
Tea Table
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany; hard maple
B.59.33
Tea Table
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany
B.69.35