Tea Table

Date1730-1750

OriginAmerica, North Carolina, Chowan County

MediumAll components of black walnut.

DimensionsOH: 27 1/2"; OW: 29"; OD: 22"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1933-8

DescriptionAppearance: Rectangular top with four chamfered corners and molded edges; four legs turned legs with blocked tops and button feet; four rails with double ogee shaping on lower edges.

Construction: Two butt-joined boards form the top, which is fastened to the frame with small wooden pins. The rails vary in thickness from 7/8 inch to 1 1/8 inch and are tenoned and double-pinned to the legs.
Label TextA significant number of tables closely related to this one have been discovered in the Chowan River basin of northeastern North Carolina. Most date from the second and third quarters of the eighteenth century. Characteristics common to the group include rectangular tops with truncated corners and slightly beveled edges, straight turned legs with "button" feet, and rails with double ogee or similar curvilinear shaping on their lower edges. The same format remained popular in the Chowan basin after the Revolution. Later versions retained the shaping of the top and rails but abandoned the disk-like foot in favor of the newly fashionable pad shape (MESDA research file 12,168). These tables were also produced with beaded Marlborough legs (CWF acc. 1933-7).

The relatively thin legs on the CWF table at first suggest production in the neoclassical period, but legs and feet of comparable form are found on many late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century tables and bedsteads from Britain and America. An earlier date for this table is further suggested by the heavy quality of its rails, which have roughly worked inner surfaces and exhibit considerable variation in thickness.

As with other "square" tea tables of the period, the CWF table is finished on all four sides and was therefore intended to be used away from the wall. The absence of a raised molding along the edges of the top implies that its function was not confined to taking tea. Period graphics show simple tables of this size being used for dining, reading, writing, sewing, and any number of other activities including tea drinking. Like round pillar-and-claw tea tables, they were probably moved about the house as needed to take advantage of available heat, cool air, or light and to suit the changing needs of the owner. The easy portability and general versatility of small rectangular tables explains the large number of similar examples that survive.
Inscribed"10836/1" in white chalk and "33-762-1" in red paint are written on the bottom. Both inscriptions are modern.
MarkingsNone.
ProvenanceThe table was purchased in 1933 from Mrs. Robert M. Pulliam, a prominent Richmond, Va., dealer in southern antiques. The object has no recorded history prior to that date.