A Very Fine and Rare Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Games Table, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1770

Appears to retain its original ornate fire gilt cast brass hardware. Table was not designed or made with corner leg brackets. Retains a dark rich surface.

Joseph Kindig, Sr., York, Pennsylvania;
A Virginia Family;

Secondary wood is poplar. Top reset. Remnants of glue blocks on underside of top. Central medial strip under top missing. Interior of drawer varnished. The table never had corner brackets. The table retains its original blocking on feet and gradrooning.
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.

Made of choice mahogany and retaining its original brasses, this card table is a handsome example of Marlborough-leg furniture from Colonial Philadelphia. The Philadelphia cabinetmaker's price book listed mahogany card tables similar to this one with Marlborough legs, bases, brackets, carved moldings and a drawer at the price of £4.¹ Thomas Chippendale published patterns incorporating Marlborough legs in The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker's Director, with this table inspired by designs for chairs illustrated in plates XXV-XXVIII and sideboard tables illustrated as plates LVII-LVIII.² Philadelphia furniture with Marlborough legs and fretwork carving is associated with the work of the Scottish-born cabinetmaker, Thomas Affleck (1740-1795), who made an elaborate set of upholstered armchairs with Marlborough legs ornamented with Gothic fretwork for Governor John Penn (1729-1795) in 1766.³ For the Penn commission, Affleck closely followed Chippendale's design for "French Chairs" published as plate 19 of the 1762 edition, even going so far as to place a molding over the upholstered seat rails for "a good Effect."

Of the few examples of this form known today, all are made of mahogany, with a fold-over top, straight rails, gadrooning, and Marlborough legs; most have a drawer and carved fretwork on the legs. One in the collection of Bayou Bend without a drawer represents a more fully developed example of its type, with both Chinese and Gothic designs incorporated into the fretwork adorning its rail and legs.⁴ One at the Henry Ford Museum also with gadrooning and Marlborough legs overlaid with Gothic fretwork displays the additional detail of carved guilloche on the folding top.⁵ One at Yale University similarly features a drawer, gadrooning and brackets but is otherwise plain.⁶ Two examples with plain Marlborough legs are published by Hornor as from the respective collections of Mrs. and Mrs. Robert Wood and Miss Emily Wister.⁷ Another card table of this type from the collection of Dr. William S. Serri has been published in The Magazine Antiques.⁸ A side chair offered as lot 8 in this sale with a history in the Penn family exhibits related Marlborough legs with carved fretwork.

¹ Martin Eli Weil, "A Cabinetmaker's Price Book, " Winterthur Portfolio 13 (1979): 186.
² London, 1762.
³ See Clement Conger and Alexandra Rollins, Treasures of State, New York, 1991, no.55, pp. 138-9.
⁴ See David Warren, et al, American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection, Houston, 1998, F116, p. 68.
⁵ See Helen Comstock, American Furniture, Exton, PA, 1962, no. 370.
⁶ See David Barquist, American Tables and Looking Glasses, New Haven, 1992, no. 77, pp. 171-3.
⁷ William M. Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, 1935, pl. 290 and pl. 293.
⁸ See Helen Comstock, "The Collection of Dr. William S. Serri," The Magazine Antiques (March 1957): 254-9.