A Very Fine and Rare Federal Carved Cherrywood and Inlaid Mahogany Granite, Alabaster And Marble Inlaid Octagonal Center Table, Attributed To John And Thomas Seymour, The Carving Attributed To Thomas Wightman Sr., Boston, Massachusetts, Circa 1805

One foot of a later date. This table would have originally been made without stretchers as it is today.  At a later date stretchers or a shelf was added and small patches on the insides of the legs are present as a result.

Purchased April 27, 1940 for $500 from Joe Kindig, Jr. York, Pennsylvania;
Sold at Sotheby's, Sinking Springs Farms: The Appell Family Collection, January 18, 2003, Sale N07867, Lot 1265.

Comstock, Helen. "Living with Antiques, The Collection of Mrs. Louis J. Appell at Sinking Springs, York, Pennsylvania,” The Magazine Antiques, August 1956, pp. 132-135;
Stoneman, Vernon C. John and Thomas Seymour, Cabinetmakers in Boston, 1794-1816, 1959, no.113, pp.196-197.

One foot of a later date. Formerly fitted with stretchers or a lower shelf and legs patched as a result.
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.

The Boston duo of John and Thomas Seymour produced more furniture with marble tops than any other Boston cabinetmakers.  Many of their sideboards and pier tables employ stone imported from Italy or shipped from Pennsylvania or Vermont.  This refined mixing or center table, however, is unique among Boston tables and is probably attributable to them.  The top in the form of an elongated octagon is inlaid with two hexagons of gray granite in a field of cream-colored alabaster, each framed by 1-inch strips of yellow marble, the whole framed with a 4-inch border of granite.  Numerous period receipts indicate Boston Federal-era merchants imported finished and unfinished marble slabs and fireplace surrounds from various Italian ports.  Marble statuary also became popular among wealthy families.  One receipt from Leghorn to a Boston ship captain records a purchase of a “scagliola” top.  The top of the present table was probably also imported from Italy and a custom-designed table and frame made to fit its unusual shape in Boston.  The turned and reeded legs are of very high quality mahogany, design and workmanship. The superb acanthus leaf and beaded-ring carving on the knees is immediately identifiable as the work of Thomas Wightman, a highly-skilled carver from London who executed most of the Seymours' carvings after his immigration in 1797.  As an independent, he may have worked for other cabinetmakers, but most of his work appears on furniture attributable on other grounds to the Seymours.  Rectangular fills on inner corners of the turned legs indicate it may have originally had a lower stretcher assembly or shelf.  The liberal use of mahogany as a veneer ground for the rails and for some glue blocks appears to date this table during the period of Boston's greatest economic expansion of the Federal era, and the years of the Seymours' greatest success.  The use of cherry for the moldings which frame the marble top is a choice probably unique to their shop. The extremely precise joinery, veneer and stringing work found here also characterize their best work. The small "checker" pattern stringing frames on the rails are found on several other examples of their work, notably on the rails of a superb oval gaming table in the Kaufman Collection (see illustration). More unusual is the stringing inlaid into lower rail edges which has repeating whitewood-blackwood diamonds set into a whitewood ground, and bordered top and bottom with simple whiteblack strings. This has been found to date on only two or three other pieces which are attributable to the Seymours.  
Robert D. Mussey, Jr., Boston, Massachusetts November 8, 2002.
Please see detail on cover of catalogue.