Footnotes

?Figure 1  Tea table attributed to William Savery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1745–1755. Walnut. H. 29fi÷•"; Diam. of top: 34‹÷¢". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art; purchased with
the Haas Community Fund and the J. Stodgell Stokes Fund.)
Figure 2  Tea table, eastern Virginia, 1750–1770. Mahogany. H. 27⁄÷•"; Diam. of top: 32‹÷¢". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 3  Joseph Highmore, Mr. B. Finds Pamela Writing, England, 1743–1744. Oil on canvas. 25fi÷•" x 29‡÷•". (Courtesy, Tate Gallery, London/Art Resource, N.Y.) This scene is based
on Samuel Richardson’s popular novel, Pamela (1740). According to Charles Saumarez Smith, “Pamela is shown in a space which she is clearly able to treat as her own with writing implements on the table in front of her; but her private space is invaded by Mr. B.” The tilt-top table is clearly the central fixture in Pamela’s specifically feminine space.
Figure 4  Gawen Hamilton, Family Group, England, ca. 1730. Oil on canvas. 28⁄÷™" x 35⁄÷™". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 5  Tea table, probably Williamsburg,
Virginia, 1710–1720. Walnut. H. 27⁄÷™", W. 26⁄÷™", D. 21⁄÷™". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) This is one of the earliest tea tables from the colonial period. It has finely turned columnar legs and an edge molding nailed to the top rather than being set into a rabbet.
Figure 6  Joseph van Aken, An English Family
at Tea, ca. 1720. Oil on canvas. 39" x 45‹÷¢". (Courtesy, Tate Gallery.) The rectangular tea table illustrated in this painting has an applied edge molding, shaped skirt, and angular cabriole legs.
Figure 7  Tea table, possibly from the shop of Peter Scott, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1725–1740. Mahogany. H. 26‹÷¢", W. 29⁄÷™", D. 17‹÷•". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 8  Nicolaas Verkolje (1673–1746), Two Ladies and a Gentleman at Tea, 1715–1720. Dimensions not recorded. (Courtesy, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.) Art historian Peter Thornton notes that small oval tables like the one depicted in this scene were very popular in Holland. “Such forms often had a painted top which was hinged on a tripod pillar, so that when not in use, it could be placed close to the wall where it provided colorful decoration” (Authentic Décor: The Domestic Interior, 1720–1920 [New York: Viking, 1984], p. 79, no. 95).
Figure 9  Tea table, Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, ca. 1720. Walnut and cherry. H. 27⁄÷•"; Diam. of top: 31fi÷•". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 10  Candle stand, Philadelphia, 1710–1720. Walnut. H. 28‡÷•", W. 17‹÷¢", D. 16‹÷¢". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 11  Tea table, Philadelphia, 1730–1740. Mahogany. H. 28"; Diam. of top: 29⁄÷¢". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art; gift of Lydia Thompson Morris.)
Figure 12  Tea table with carving attributed to the shop of Samuel Harding, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1735–1745. Mahogany. H. 27"; Diam. of top: 31". (Courtesy, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U. S. Department of State.)
Figure 13  Tea table attributed to Peter Scott, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1740–1750. Mahogany. H. 28‹÷¢"; Diam. of top: 32⁄‹÷¡§". (Courtesy, Robert E. Lee Memorial Association; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 14  View of the Dominy shop showing a table top mounted on a lathe. (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.) The Dominy family shop was located in East Hampton, Long Island.
Figure 15  Tea table, probably Norfolk, Virginia, 1760–1775. Mahogany. H. 28‹÷¢"; Diam. of top: 29‹÷¢". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.) This tea table probably represents the work of a cabinetmaker, a turner, and a carver.
Figure 16  Thomas Hayden drawing of a baluster for a tilt-top tea table, Windsor, Connecticut, 1787. Dimensions not recorded. Ink on paper. The Great River: Art and Society of the Connecticut Valley, 1635–1820, edited by Gerald W. R. Ward and William N. Hosley, Jr. (Hartford, Conn.: Wadsworth Atheneum, 1985), p. 225.
Figure 17  Tea table, Newport, Rhode Island, 1760–1770. Mahogany. H. 26fi÷•"; Diam. of top: 31‡÷•". (Photo, Israel Sack, Inc.)
Figure 18  Detail of three balusters in Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, ca. 1763. (Courtesy, Touro Synagogue; photo, Gavin
Ashworth.)
Figure 19  Detail of a pendant in the George Wythe House, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1750–1755. (Redrawn from an original by Singleton Peabody Moorehead; courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 20  Tea table, New York, 1760–1770. Mahogany. H. 29"; Diam. of top: 29". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 21  Tea table, New York, 1760–1770. Mahogany. H. 29"; Diam. of top: 29". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 22  Detail of the pillar of the tea table illustrated in fig. 20.
Figure 23  Detail of the pillar of the table illustrated in fig. 21.
Figure 24  Tea table with carving attributed to the shop of James Reynolds, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1766–1775. Mahogany. Dimensions not recorded. (Private collection; photo, Christie’s.)
Figure 25  Tea table with carving attributed to Bernard and Jugiez, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1770–1775. Mahogany. H. 29‹÷¢"; Diam. of top: 31⁄÷™". (Courtesy, Dietrich American Foundation.)
Figure 26  Tea table, probably Boston, Massachusetts, 1750–1765. Mahogany. H. 27⁄÷™"; Diam. of top: 36". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
Figure 27  Detail showing the pillars on (from left to right): tea table, Boston or Salem, Massachusetts, 1760–1770; tea table, Newport, Rhode Island, 1760–1780; tea table, eastern Virginia, 1750–1770. (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum; John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization; private collection, photo, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 28  Detail showing the pillars on (from left to right): tea table, Massachusetts, 1750–1770; tea table, Newport, Rhode Island, 1755–1775; tea table, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1740–1755; tea table, eastern Virginia, 1750–1770. (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum; Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, gift of Mrs. H. K. Estabrook, photo, David Bohl; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 29  Detail showing the pillars on (from left to right): tea table by Theodosius Parsons, Windham, Connecticut, 1787–1793; tea table, Pennsylvania, 1760–1780; tea table, Norfolk,
Virginia, 1765–1775. (Courtesy, Mabel Brady
Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery; Winterthur Museum; Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)
Figure 30  Tea table, Norfolk, Virginia 1765–1785. Mahogany. H. 29⁄÷™"; Diam. of top: 37". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 31  Tea table by Theodosius Parsons, Windham, Conecticut, 1787–1793. Cherry. H. 27‹÷•"; Diam. of top: 36⁄÷¢". (Courtesy, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery.)
Figure 32  Detail showing the scalloped tops on  (a) tea table, probably Connecticut, 1765–1785;  (b) tea table, New York, 1765–1785; (c) tea table, Philadelphia, 1765–1775; (d) tea table, Charleston, South Carolina, 1760–1770. (Courtesy,
Milwaukee Art Museum, Layton Art Collection; Chipstone Foundation; Winterthur Museum; Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)
Figure 33  Detail showing the legs of (from left to right): tea table, Philadelphia, 1765–1775; tea table, Virginia, 1750–1770. (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum; Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)
Figure 34  Tea table, Charleston, South Carolina, 1760–1770. Mahogany. H. 28⁄÷™"; Diam. of top: 31⁄÷¢". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)
Figure 35  Tea table attributed to a member of the Chapin family, Hartford or East Windsor, Connecticut, 1775–1790. Cherry. H. 29⁄÷¢"; Diam. of top: 31⁄÷¢". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Eliphalet Chapin (1741–1807) worked as a journeyman in Philadelphia in the 1760s. When he returned to his native Connecticut, he continued to use construction features, proportions, and decorative details common in Philadelphia. His work influenced his cabinetmaker family members, Amzi (1768–1835) and Aaron (1753–1838).
Figure 36  Tea table, probably Newport, Rhode Island, 1750–1780. Mahogany. H. 28⁄÷¢"; Diam. of top: 33". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
Figure 37  Tea table, Newport, Rhode Island, 1760–1780. Mahogany. H. 27⁄÷™"; Diam. of top: 33fi÷•". (Private collection; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.) Most Newport tea tables that appear to have been exported are relatively plain. It is doubtful that venture cargo shipments included elaborate examples like those occasionally made for Rhode Island patrons.
Figure 38  Desk, Newport, Rhode Island, 1760–1770. Maple with chestnut and tulip poplar. H. 40‡÷•", W. 38‹÷•", D. 20‡÷¡§ ". (Private collection; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)
Figure 39  Tea table, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1788. Walnut, maple, ash, and lightwood inlay. H. 27"; Diam. of top: 23‹÷¢". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
Figure 40  Epergne by William Cripps, London, 1759/60. Silver. H. 15‹÷¢", L. 26⁄÷¢", W. 26". (Courtesy, Colonial Wiliamsburg Foundation.)
Figure 41  Robert West, Thomas Smith and His Family, Britain, 1733. Oil on canvas. 35⁄÷•" x 23‹÷•". (Courtesy, National Trust Photographic Library/ Upton House, Beardstead Collection; photo, Angelo Hornak.)
Figure 42  Designs for “Claw Tables” illustrated on plate 13 of the 1762 edition of William Ince and John Mayhew’s The Universal System of Household Furniture. (Courtesy, Winterthur Library: Printed Book and Periodical Collection.)
Figure 43  Tea table, Philadelphia, 1765–1775. Mahogany. H. 28⁄÷™"; Diam. of top: 36⁄÷¢". (Chipstone Foundation; photo Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 44  Detail of the carving on the pillar of the tea table illustrated in fig. 43.
Figure 45  Tea table attributed to the shop of Peter Scott, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1765–1775. Mahogany. H. 28"; Diam. of top: 31⁄÷¢". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)
Figure 46  Kettle stand attributed to the shop of Peter Scott, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1765–1775. Mahogany. H. 31⁄÷¢"; Diam. of top: 21". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 47  Detail of the top of the kettle stand illustrated in fig. 46.
Figure 48  Tea table with carving attributed to Bernard and Jugiez, ca. 1765. Mahogany. H. 28‹÷•"; Diam. of top: 36". (Collection of Mrs. George M. Kaufman; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)
Figure 49  Detail of a leg on the tea table illustrated in fig. 48.
Figure 50  Tea table, probably Charleston, South Carolina, 1765–1775. Mahogany. H. 28‹÷•"; Diam. of top: 29‹÷¢". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
Figure 51  Detail of a leg on the tea table illustrated in fig. 50.
Figure 52  Similar creamware plates with diVerent decorative treatment. (Left) probably StaVordshire, ca. 1775–1785; (right) possibly Leeds, ca. 1780–1790. (Courtesy, Audrey and Ivor Noël Hume; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)