Tripod Table, Mahogany, English, about 1760-1765
The tripod table was perhaps the most important achievement of Thomas Chippendale as innovator, for it was his exclusive creation. The tripod table in our collection was made approximately between 1760 and 1765. The quality of the carving is so excellent, the sense of style so marked, that, if not by Chippendale himself, the table is surely the work of a cabinet maker who closely rivaled the famous master. Tripod tables are commonly referred to in documents of the period as “snap tables.” The top is hinged so that it can be tilted back to save space. When in use it is held in place by a sliding catch, which snaps sharply into position when the top is let down.
[Card Table, Mahogany English or American, about 1750-1775]
Card Table, Mahogany English or American, about 1750-1775
Card playing, often for high stakes, was so much the rage in the XVIII century that there were generally several card tables in a fashionable house of the period. The folding card table, here reproduced, dates about 1750-1775 and was possibly made in America rather than in England. Characteristic of the Chippendale manner are the cabriole legs and the style of the relief carving. One of the legs swings outward to support the hinged half of the top when open; the rounded corners of the top served as candle stands.
Note the fine carving of the moulded rim with its foliated scallop shells. The fluted shaft and the cabriole legs with ball-and-claw feet are well proportioned.
[Dressing-table, Mahogany. American, about 1760-1775]
Dressing-table, Mahogany. American, about 1760-1775
The dressing-table, or low-boy, illustrated above, is a fine example of the more elaborate cabinet work done in this country during the XVIII century. It dates from about 1760 to 1775, and was probably made in Philadelphia. In a dressing-table very similar to ours there has been found the advertisement of the maker, “William Savery, at the Sign of the Chair near the Market on Second Street, Philadelphia.” The small group of existing furniture to which our piece belongs includes some of the finest examples of American furniture. Low-boys and high-boys; that is, dressing-tables and high chests of drawers on legs, would appear generally to have been made in pairs. The companion piece to our lowboy has been lost sight of, but the type is well known. The lower part would have been about the same in design as the dressing-table; the chest of drawers, which it supported, completed by a scroll top. The high chest of drawers enjoyed a long continued popularity in America. The type just described, despite its Chippendale motifs, was distinctly American. The expressions, high-boy and low-boy, are not found in the old records; they probably originated later in derision, when the chest of drawers and its accompanying table seemed grotesquely out of fashion.