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DS1993-115
Tea table, rectangular
DS1993-115

Tea table, rectangular

Date1740-1760
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Isle of Wight County or Surry County or Sussex County
MediumBlack walnut and tulip poplar
DimensionsOH: 29"; OW: 32"; OD: 21 1/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1975-65
DescriptionAppearance: Rectangular tea table with molded top edge; four elaborately shaped skirts; four turned legs with pad feet and heavy incised ring turning just below juncture with apron.

Construction: The top consists of two butt-joined boards secured to the frame with wooden pins. It was originally reinforced with four long tulip poplar glue blocks. The edges of the top are rabbeted to receive a molding that was originally glued and nailed in place. The rails are joined to the legs with single-shouldered tenons, i.e., tenons that are flush with the inside surface of the rail. Each tenon is double-pinned.

Materials: Black walnut top, rails, and legs; tulip poplar glue blocks.
Label TextBy the mid-eighteenth century, the social consumption of tea long practiced by the gentry had been widely adopted by the "middling sort." Rural cabinetmakers, joiners, and other woodworkers responded by producing ambitiously styled vernacular tea tables akin to this one. Working in native woods like black walnut, cherry, and maple, these artisans were often firmly grounded in provincial British woodworking traditions. Many also drew on designs from nearby urban centers, frequently reinterpreting the forms to suit local tastes and technologies. Some craftsmen freely combined elements from different styles to achieve the desired result. While the wealthiest householders in the rural South may have turned to urban cabinetmakers for their finest furniture, householders of more modest means apparently were well satisfied with the products of smaller local shops like the one that produced this exuberantly shaped table.

The broad, flattened pad feet and the inset turnings on the legs clearly mark this object as a product of eastern Southside Virginia, probably Surry, Sussex, or Isle of Wight County. Black walnut dining, dressing, and tea tables with the same distinctive features have been found there in some numbers. Many of them also exhibit the deep heavily shaped rails, beaded upper stiles, and double-pinned joints seen here (see dining table 6936 in the MESDA research files). This combination of details enjoyed broad local appeal and was employed by several shops. A hybrid of sorts, it blends elements from the William and Mary or mid-baroque style with those from the newer Queen Anne or late baroque taste. While the upper section of the table with its shaped rails and ring turnings harkens back to mid-baroque tables, the simplified cabriole legs are drawn from late baroque objects such as CWF dressing table 1968-734. Transitional legs combining pad feet and ring turnings were also used on chairs, tables, and even case furniture from New England, the Middle Colonies, and, of course, Great Britain. Immigrant British artisans were almost certainly responsible for introducing the form into Southside Virginia.



InscribedNone
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceThe table was purchased in 1975 from Carolyn A. Keen, a Smithfield, Va., antiques dealer, who acquired it from a local estate. Members of the deceased's family recalled that he had purchased the table at the Isle of Wight Courthouse about 1925.