Images(8)

Card Table

Date1750-1770

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Tidewater or Williamsburg

MediumMahogany or tropical hardwood (Snake wood possibly), yellow pine (Pinus, spp.), black cherry (prunus, spp.), and oak

DimensionsOH: 28 7/8"; OW: 31 3/4"; D (closed): 16"; OD (open): 31 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Gail and Fred Kahn, and The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2017-291

DescriptionAppearance: Square card table with blocked corners; large central drawer in front skirt with thumbnail molded edge supported by yellow pine table bottom board; four cabriole legs with ogee knee blocks and pad feet; proper right rear leg swings to support top when open; top of swing leg relieved to cover corner of table when closed; top covered in green baize (modern) except at four square reserves at corners and four oval dished reserved off-set along sides.

Construction:
Both top leaves are fashioned from single boards. The lower leaf is secured from the top to the rails with six screws (set next to six original pegs) hidden by the baize. A 4 ½” rectangular glue block on each interior side rail reinforces the joining. The leaves are joined with inset knife hinges.

The primary wood front and side rails are tenoned and pegged into the front legs and the fixed rear leg. The mahogany veneered cherry hinge rail is tenoned and pinned into the swing leg and knuckle joined to the fixed mahogany veneered oak hinge rail. The front and side interior rails of the yellow pine are glued to the inside of the primary wood front and side rails. Any joints of these yellow pine rails at the front corners are unknown. The interior yellow pine rear rail is dovetailed to the proper right interior side rail (joint reinforced with a vertical interior glue block) and possibly tenoned and pegged from the interior to the proper left rear leg. The yellow pine interior rear rail is glued to the oak fixed rear rail. It is unclear if the oak rear rail is joined to the proper left rear leg with a mortise and tenon joint or not. The table bottom is nailed into rabbets in the underside edges of the yellow pine inner frame rails.

Square reserves on the corners and oval pockets are integral to the top. Knee blocks are glued to the legs, rails and bottom. Drawer guides (replaced) are screwed (modern screws) from above to the table bottom. Cabriole legs terminate in pad feet. The two rear facing knee blocks are original, the others are replaced.

The drawer is of dovetail construction with the bottom (replaced) resting in a dado in the front and nailed into a dado in the back. Two modern runners are nailed from below to the sides. A modern drawer stop is nailed from the back to the back. The interior of the drawer bottom is grained in red.

Woods: Top leaves are mahogany; front and side rails, legs, original knee blocks and drawer front are another tropical hardwood, possibly sabicu or snake wood, hinge rail is cherry with mahogany veneer, fixed hinge rail is oak with mahogany veneer; interior frame, bottom, drawer back and sides are yellow pine, drawer bottom (replacement) is tulip poplar.
Label TextThis table descended in the Ball-Chinn-Peirce family at Oakley, Lancaster County, Virginia. Whether the table was made locally in Lancaster County or in Williamsburg is still being researched, but this is a rare survival of a Tidewater card table from the mid-18th century. Colonial Williamsburg only owns one other Virginia card table from this period, which is attributed to the Anthony Hay shop in Williamsburg (1932-12). Made of mahogany or another tropical hardwood such as Snake wood, the table follows known English and American prototypes. Card playing was a popular pastime in America and many wealthy families owned card tables in Virginia.
ProvenanceHistory at Oakley, Lancaster County, Virginia. Descended in the Ball-Chinn-Peirce family to present owner. May have come from adjoining plantation, Epping Forest (Ball family). Oakley was built by Raleigh Chinn Sr. (1684-1742) on land given by Col. Joseph Ball (1649-1711) of Epping Forest to Raleigh and Ester Ball Chinn (b. 1685), daughter of Col. Joseph and Elizabeth Romney Ball and half-sister of Mary Ball Washington.

Known line of descent:
Robert Tunstall Peirce and Mary Tapscott Peirce; c. 1904 to son Joseph Peirce and Janet Gilliam Peirce; c. 1949 to daughter Eliza Peirce Schwenck; c. 1960s to daughter Jane Riddle Schwenck; 2009 to first cousin Janet Colquhoun Whitehead.