Tea Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Tea Table
Datec. 1735–1780
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumMahogany; mahogany and cherry
Dimensions(Top up): 44 in. height (111.8 cm)
(Top down): 28 1/8 × 30 1/8 in. diameter (71.4 × 76.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.54.10
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Drawing Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

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.


Provenance[Joe Kindig, Jr. (1898–1971), York, Pennsylvania]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1954; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Exhibition History"Theta Charity Antiques Show", Albert Thomas Convention Center, Houston, Sepember 25–29, 1985 (LN:85.31)

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

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Tripod Table
no date
Mahogany
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Center Table
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c. 1825–1835
Mahogany; eastern white pine, cherry, paint, and gilt
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Pier Table
c. 1825–1830
Mahogany; cherry, tulip poplar, marble, and mirror glass
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Supper Table
no date
Mahogany
96.1584
Bureau Table
Thomas Spencer
c. 1780–1785
Mahogany; mahogany, eastern white pine, chestnut, soft maple, and yellow poplar
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Tripod Table
c. 1755 (top)
Mahogany, brass
94.915
Sofa Table
c. 1815–1825
Mahogany, mahogany veneer; eastern white pine, yellow poplar, cherry, and mahogany
B.71.106
Tea Table
c. 1735–1790
Mahogany
B.69.362
Pedestal
c. 1770
Mahogany
94.1193
Card Table
c. 1820–1830
Grained, painted, and gilded mahogany, and birch; mahogany veneer on eastern white pine with black walnut banding, ash, eastern white pine, cherry, and original brass casters
B.68.31
Card Table
c. 1820–1825
Mahogany, mahogany veneer, rosewood, and ebony; yellow-poplar, cherry, eastern white pine, and brass
B.68.32
Card Table
c. 1735–1745
Mahogany and unidentified inlay; mahogany, cherry, eastern white pine, and spruce with needlework
B.69.406