In Philadelphia, the rectangular tea table was never produced in the same numbers as its tripod-based counterpart. One explanation for its scarcity can be inferred from the 1772 cabinetmakers’ price list, which reveals that a “Squair Tea Table” was more expensive than the tripod form. The latter’s popularity is also explained by its convenience, the revolving top offering greater versatility. When the table was not in use the top could be turned upright and placed against the wall–a desirable feature for a multifunctional room. This example’s inverted baluster support, reminiscent of Early Baroque turnings on tea tables, dressing tables, and high chests, corresponds to an English precedent but is atypical in America

Technical notes: Mahogany; mahogany (cleats), cherry (small brackets extending from the cleats). The legs are secured by an iron bracket. The cleats have an unusual layout, forming a large rectangular frame, its width corresponding with the box’s dimensions, with perpendicular arms positioned at their ends. The latch is original. Luke Beckerdite ascribes the carving on the legs to Samuel Harding’s Philadelphia shop.

Related examples: Hart 1925, p. 14; Sack 1950, p. 262; Sotheby’s, New York, sale 5500, October 24–25, 1986, lot 223A; Conger 1991, pp. 80–81, no. 2. The carving relates to that displayed by a group of tea and dressing tables: Hornor 1977, p. 73; Mooney 1978, pp. 1036, 1039, 1041; Antiques, 130 (November 1986), p. 804; Ward 1988, pp. 220–22, no. 112.

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.