IMPORTANT JUDGE JASPER YEATES CHIPPENDALE CARVED AND FIGURED WALNUT TURRET-TOP GAMES TABLE, PHILADELPHIA OR LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, CIRCA 1770

Retains a dark rich historic, possibly original, surface.

Judge Jasper Yeates (1745-1817), Lancaster, Pennsylvania;
Mary Yeates (1770-1836), (daughter) m. Charles Smith (1765-1836);
Mary Margaret Smith (1806-1869), (daughter) m. George Brinton;
Dr. John H. Brinton (1832-1907), (son) m. Sarah Ward;
Jasper Yeates Brinton (1878-1973), (son);
Christie's, New York, October 21, 1978, lot 291;
Israel Sack, Inc., New York.

Mount Pleasant, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1961-1973;
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973-1978.

Esther Singleton, The Furniture of Our Forefathers, (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1916), pp. 107-8;
William Macpherson Hornor, Jr, Blue Book, Philadelphia Furniture: William Penn to George Washington, (Washington: Highland House, 1977), pl. 33;
"Two Auction Records at at Christie's Americana Sale on October 21st," Antiques and The Arts Weekly, October 27, 1978, p. 66;
"Four Auction Records Set for American Furniture: Sack Dominates Buying at Christie's Americana Sale," Antique Monthly, November 15, 1978, p. 13B;
"A Look at the Auctions," Antiques and The Arts Weekly, November 24, 1978, p. 66;
Lita Solis-Cohen, "Christie's Americana Sale," Maine Antique Digest, December 1978, p. 19-A;
James and Judith Milne, "That was the week that was in New York," Ohio Antique Review, December 1978, p. 12;
Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, (Washington: Highland House Publishers, Inc., 1979), p. 1660, P1234.

Secondary wood is poplar. Appears to retain original hardware.
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.

This exceptional games table, with its turreted corners, scalloped skirts with intricate foliate and C-scroll carving, and legs with high relief carving and incised decoration above the knee, was first published by Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture (Washington, D.C.: 1935), pl. 33 as having been originally owned by Judge Jasper Yeates.  Even more remarkable is that it’s apparent mate survives and was sold at Christie’s, New York, Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts, October 5, 2000, sale 9468, lot 100.  Further a high chest possibly made en suite exists with identical carving on its legs (see Christie’s, New York, Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver, Paintings and Prints including Masterworks from the Westervelt Company and Selections from Thomas Molesworth's Ranch a Commission, September 25, 2013, sale 2729, lot 23).

Jasper Yeates was born in Philadelphia, April 7, 1745. He studied at the College of Philadelphia and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1761 and immediately following a Masters of Arts. He was admitted to the bar in 1765 and became one of the most prominent lawyers with the largest practice in the interior of Pennsylvania. He married Sarah Burd (1748/49-1829), December 20, 1767 and they lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

During the Revolutionary War, Yeates supported the Patriot cause and was chairman of the Committee of Correspondence of Lancaster County in 1776. He wrote an account which was printed of his visit to the site of Braddock's defeat in Western Pennsylvania and was one of the delegates for Lancaster County to the Convention of Pennsylvania which ratified the Constitution of the United States in 1787. He was one of the three Committee persons who reported the form of ratification adopted by the convention. A justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1791-1817, he was appointed by President Washington as one of the commissioners to deliberate with the residents of the western counties in Pennsylvania in order to surpress the Whiskey Insurrection. He also published Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1808 in four volumes.

Yeates died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1817 and the inscription on his epitaph reads, "He fulfilled the duties of life with fidelity. His integrity was inflexible. As a judge he was most learned and eminent, and in the exercise of his public functions he deservedly obtained the confidence of his fellowcitizens [sic], and he left behind him a name which will only perish with the judicial records of his country." For further information on Yeates' life see John W. Jordan, ed., Colonial Families of Philadelphia (Lewis Publishing Co., 1911), vol. I., pp. 402-403.