Images(3)

Tea Table

Date1740-1760

Maker Unidentified

OriginAmerica, Rhode Island, Newport

MediumMahogany, maple

DimensionsOH: 27”; OW: 40 1/2"”; OD: 22”

Credit LineBequest of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hennage

Object number2020-149

DescriptionAppearance: rectangular tea table with rounded "porringer" shaped corners; skirt with flattened arch; legs square at rails, turned below ending in rounded pad feet.

Construction: rails are tenoned and double pegged to tops of legs; six maple cleats are secured to the underside of the top with rose headed nails and mortised into each rail (two on each long rail; one on each end rail) allowing for expansion and contraction of the top.
Label TextA certain subset of 18th century rectangular tea tables had rounded corners, creating the “porringer” top shape, as named by 20th century collectors. Most of these tables appear to have been produced in Rhode Island and the surrounding colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. This example has a history of descent in a Duxbury, Massachusetts family. While it could have been produced in Massachusetts, the method of attaching the top with blocks nailed to the underside and tenoned into mortises in the frame is seen on other Newport examples and often signifies Rhode Island manufacture.
InscribedOn the bottom of the top the word "Royal" is written in calk, indicating Mrs. (Bradford) Royal, a previous owner of the table.
ProvenanceOwnership history: Elizabeth Hodson (or Hudson) Hickling (1745-?), Boston and Duxbury, MA; to daughter Sarah B. Bradford, Duxbury, MA; to daughters Lucia, Elizabeth, and Charlotte Bradford, Duxbury, MA; to niece Lucia Alden Bradford Knapp, Plymouth, MA, 1891; to daughter Mrs. Royal, (Maria Bradford Royal), Plymouth, MA; Israel Sack, Inc.