An Important Queen Anne Mahogany Tray Top Tea Table, Boston, Massachusetts

appears to retain its original hardware, 'AO' inscribed in chalk on underside of drawer, retains a dark rich apparent original surface

Ex-collection Israel Sack, Inc. 1939;
Ex-collection Charles Krum Davis (1889-1968), Fairfield, Connecticut.  Davis was a colleague and friend of Henry Francis du Pont and formed one of the most important collections of early Americana. This table was one of his most prized possessions and stood as the centerpiece of his living room;
Israel Sack, Inc., New York, circa 1970;
Private New York collection;
Christie's Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver and Prints, January 21, 2005, sale 1474, lot 324;
Leigh Keno American Antiques
Private Collection

Fairbanks, Jonathan L. and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates. American Furniture 1620 to the Present. (New York: Richard Marek Publishers, 1981), p.124.
The Magazine Antiques. "Antiques in Domestic Settings: The Home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. Davis." (January 1941): 19.
The Magazine Antiques (December 1970), advertisement, inside cover
Sack, Albert. Fine Points of Furniture, Early American. (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1950), p.247 described as "one of the great rarities of its type" and a "priceless table";
Sack, Israel Inc. American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection. Vol.5. (Alexandria, Virginia:  Highland House Publishers, Inc., 1974), P3283, p.1333; Vol.6. 1979, P3283, p.18.

 

secondary wood is white pine
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Acclaimed as a "true American classic" with "outstanding proportions" and "splendid sweep," this dynamic tea table represents the most sophisticated form of Queen Anne tea tables made in Boston from about 1740 to the Revolution.¹ It has survived in exceptional condition and appears to retain its original surface and drop brass pull. It can be distinguished from comparable tables by the unique pattern of its shaped convex skirt and lack of a beaded molding applied to the frame above the juncture of the skirt. It bears additional importance as the only extant example of the tray-top form with a drawer fitted into the frame.

Fashioned with a top with a notched molded rim to secure a tea service, this table exhibits an exceptionally delicate poise, a highly skilled modeling from dense mahogany, and an elegant design. In constructing it in the latest London taste, its skilled maker was clearly inspired by a tea table design executed by John Linnell in circa 1760 and published in Miscellaneous Collection of Designs (London, 1800). Linnell appears to have based his design on Chinese tables with rectangular tops, cyma skirts, and cabriole legs imported to England from the seventeenth century.

The table is inscribed on the underside of the drawer with the chalk initials "AO," which appear to date early in its history and perhaps correspond with the initials of its original owner. If this table was commissioned by a Bostonian, only an affluent resident would have been able to afford it which limits the possible candidates to a member of the Oliver or Otis families, the only prominent families in the Boston-area with a surname beginning with "O." As no member of the Otis family appears to have a first name beginning with an "A," this table was possibly owned by one of three Oliver family members with the same initials: Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver (1706-1774), his son Andrew Oliver (1731-1799), or their distant relative Alexander Oliver (1752-1831). The first two are stronger candidates since Alexander would have been too young to be the first owner of this table. Andrew Oliver, Sr. was the infamous stamp officer following the passage of the 1765 Stamp Act and his estate inventory records significant assets such as a lavishly furnished home and other properties with expensive goods such as two tea tables.²  Andrew Oliver, Jr. of Salem could also have been the original owner since he married in 1752, around the time this table was made.

For related examples of the form, see one in a private collection illustrated in Wendy Cooper, In Praise of America, New York, 1980, p. 193, no. 216; one at Historic New England with a history in the Barrett family of New Ipswich, New Hampshire;³ and two illustrated as "superior" and a "masterpiece," respectively, in Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture, New York, 1993, p. 266. Another example with a history in the Ladd family of Portsmouth, New Hampshire sold in these rooms, Important Americana from the Collection of Diane and Norman Bernstein, the Lindens, Washington, D.C., January 22, 2006, sale 8160, lot 54 for $497,600.

¹ Albert Sack, Fine Points of Furniture, New York, 1950, p. 247 and Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bates, American Furniture 1620 to the Present, New York, 1981, p. 124.
² Alice Hanson Jones, American Colonial Wealth: Documents and Methods, New York, 1977, vol. II, p. 966-71.
³ See Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era, Boston, 1984, no.67, p.287.