image of object
Photo: Courtesy Christie's, New York
Click the image to enlarge

Card table

Object number

RIF4032

Maker

Maker, attributed to John Townsend, American, 1732/33–1809

Dimensions

Closed: 26 7/8 × 34 1/4 × 16 1/2 in. (68.26 × 87 × 41.91 cm)

Date

1760–70

Current location

Private Collection

Geography

Made in Newport, Rhode Island
(view a map of Rhode Island)

Medium

Mahogany (primary); maple (hinged rails, stationary rail and battens) and pine (glue blocks)

Marks

Unknown

Inscriptions

"A," in graphite, on block between rear leg hinges

Provenance

Private collection, Romulus, New York, by about 1950; consigned to Hessney's Auction Company, Geneva, New York, December 13, 2000; sold to Samuel Cottone, Mount Morris, New York; sold to G. K. S. Bush, Inc., Washington, D. C., 2000; sold to a private collection, Alexandria, Virginia; consigned to Christie's, New York, January 21–22, 2021, lot 174; sold to a private collection

Associated names

G. K. S. Bush, Inc.
Hessney's Auction Company
Samuel Cottone

See also

Bibliography

Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker, exh. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005), 87, no. 6, ill.
Fran Kramer, "The Winning Card Table," Maine Antique Digest (February 2001): 10-A, ill.
"Period Card Table Sells for $181,500 at Hessney's Auction," Antiques and the Arts Weekly (January 19, 2001): 20, ill.
Patricia E. Kane et al., Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650–1830, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2016), 333n2.
Christie's New York, New York, In Praise of America: Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver, Prints and Broadsides, sale cat. (January 21–22, 2021), 63–65, lot 174, ill.
Madelia Hickman Ring, "Christie's "In Praise of America" Sale Rides Inauguration Spirit," Antiques and the Arts Weekly (February 12, 2021): 17, ill.
Lita Solis-Cohen, "Americana Week in New York City during COVID-19," Maine Antique Digest (March 2021): 91, ill.