Rhode Island Furniture Archive - Yale University Art Gallery

Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's, New York Click the image to enlarge	Card tables, near pair
	Object number RIF5659
	Maker Maker Unknown
	Dimensions 30 in. (76.2 cm) Width: 34 3/4 in. (88.27 cm) Depth, closed: 17 in. (43.18 cm) Depth, open: 34 in. (86.36 cm)
	Date 1775–95
	Current location Unknown
	Geography Made in Newport, Rhode Island (view a map of Rhode Island)
	Medium Mahogany (primary); pine (drawer supports, transverse battens and stationay rail); maple (hinged rail)
	Marks None
	Inscriptions None
	Provenance Museum of the City of New York, before 2012; consigned to Sotheby's, New York, January 25–26, 2013, lot 370. Sotheby's, New York, January 24–25, 2014, lot 272
	Associated names Museum of the City of New York Sotheby's
	Construction Each table has a single-board, oblong, rounded-edge top with serpentine sides and front, and outset, rectangular front corners. It is joined to its conformingly shaped top leaf with brass hinges at their rear corners. There are three leaf-edge tenon joints. The top of each leaf is lined with baize. Carved into each leaf are elliptical chip holders, and at the outer corners, candlestick holders with incurvate corners. The top is secured to its conformingly shaped frame by screw pockets inside the long rails and by two transverse battens set into grooves in the long rails and attached with screw pockets to the underside of the top. Within the frame of one table are shadows of multiple, horizontal glue blocks; there are only two extant. This table also bears shadows of vertical glue blocks in each corner; none are extant. Within the frame of the other example is a single horizontal glue block; and no shadows of others. In this example, the corner vertical glue blocks remain. Within both frames are two transverse battens, dovetailed to the bottom of the inside rear rail; the battens? connection to the front rail is obscured by molding. Nailed with brads through the underside of the battens in one table, and simply glued in the other example are longitudinal supports for the small drawer. The supports rest upon a cleat nailed with brads inside the proper left skirt rail and have, in one table, at their inside terminus, a drawer stop. The other example contains drawer guides upon the supports, but no drawer stop. The serpentine drawer front has a cockbeaded surround, and is attached to its round-topped drawer sides with dovetail joints, having finely cut pins of slightly varying configurations, with half-pins above and half-pins with rabbets below. The drawer sides are full-depth and slightly shy of the drawer front. The drawer bottom is perpendicular to the front and nailed with brads into rabbets in the front, sides and back above. The top of the drawer back is slightly rounded. The rails are serpentine without, straight within. Fixed with rosehead nails to their undersides is a deep skirt molding, whose face consists of a small applied bead molding above diagonal cross-hatching. The inner and outer rear rails are joined by rosehead nails. The front and side rails are tenoned to the legs without wood pins. The proper right end of the inner rear rail meets its side rail in a dovetail joint, having finely cut, narrow-necked pins with half-pins above and below. The ends of the outer rear rail are tenoned to their respective legs, each joint showing two wood pins. The proper right, swinging end of the outer rail moves by means of a round, five-knuckled carved-wood hinge. The top of the swinging leg is rabbeted; there are two tenon joints. Incurvate, openwork brackets are nailed with brads to the tops of the front legs and the underside of the front rail molding. Just below the brackets, each leg has a bead molding set into a groove. Below, the legs are stop-fluted on three sides. Marlboro feet are nailed with brads to the underside of the legs. Examined by P.E. Kane, January 23, 2013; notes compiled by T.B. Lloyd.
	Bibliography Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana, Furniture, Folk Art, Silver, Porcelain, Prints and Carpets including Property sold by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, sale cat. (January 25–26, 2013), 191, lot 370, ill. Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana: Furniture, Folk Art, Silver, Chinese Export Porcelain, Prints, and Carpets, sale cat. (January 24–25, 2014), 150, lot 272, ill.