Images(9)

Card Table

DateCa. 1760

OriginEngland

MediumMahogany, deal, and wool

DimensionsH(closed): 29" H(open): 28 1/8" L: 36 1/8" D(closed): 18 1/8" D(open): 35 7/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1947-570

DescriptionAppearance: Card table has a rectangular top and frame on straight molded legs, with rococo foliate carved brackets. Frame veneered with crotch-grain mahogany, bordered at the bottom with an astragal molding. Hinged double top opening to an original green broadcloth covering with a crossband veneer border. The top when closed has a highly figured mahogany veneer bordered with crossband veneer. Both sections of the top have astragal-shaped front and side moldings. The back legs pull out by concertina action to support the top. Medial lateral brace across frame. Wooden spring lock under top holds rear rail in place when closed. Concealed sliding panel/drawer acts as lock for rails when slid into sections that unfold for open position of table.

Primary: Mahogany, mahogany veneer and top crossbanded with unidentified light yellow wood. Secondary: mahogany and deal.

Construction
Each leaf of the top is identical in size and comprised of three, deal, butt-joined boards, surrounded on the front and side edges with a mahogany half-round molding. One leaf is secured to the front and side rails with a series of pocket screws, and the other joined to the fixed leaf with inset knife hinges. The hinged top is veneered with figured mahogany framed with a mitered 1” band of cross-grained mahogany veneer. The interior is covered with green broadcloth framed with a mitered ½” cross-grained mahogany veneer band. A center rear edge tenon on the hinged leaf aligns with a shallow mortise on the fixed leaf when open. A small bead is glued around the lower edge of the table’s skirt.
The front segments of the folding side rails of the concertina assembly are lapped and joined to the fixed sections of the side rails with pairs of inset butt hinges. They are joined to the rear folding rail sections with knife-edge hinges set into the top and underside edges of the rails. The rear folding rail sections are joined with inset pairs of butt hinges to the upper section of the rear legs and to blocks adjoining the rear legs that are in turn glued and screwed to the rear rail flush with the top of the leg.

The mahogany legs extend to the top of the frame and are fluted below the skirt. Foliate carved thin knee blocks are backed by shaped glue blocks that are tenoned into the legs and glued to the underside of the rails. Fixed rails are tenoned into the upper section of the legs. A mahogany medial rail is dove-tailed to the underside of the fixed side rails 8¾” in back of the front rail.

When opened, the concertina assembly is stabilized with a full width tray that slides in dados in the interior surface of the fixed and hinged sides. When closed, the tray slides forward in the dados and rests under the fixed section. An open four-sided (dovetailed) box, with the upper surface of the tray serving as bottom, provides hidden storage. It is nailed from the underside to the upper surface of the slide, overlapping and extending below the rear edge of the slide to which it is also nailed forming a hand hold. A central spring lock set into the underside of the fixed leaf with a wooden overlap at the rear edge holds the rear rail of the table frame in place when closed.

All rails are mahogany with mahogany veneer on exposed surfaces. The veneer extends to include upper legs to which the rails are tenoned.
MarkingsNone found