A Very Fine and Rare Classical Eagle-Carved Games Table, attributed to Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854), New York, circa 1825

Collection of Maude B. Feld, New York;

Thence by descent to Alan W. Feld and Suzanne C. Feld, 1995.

This exceptional games table relates to a group of furniture featuring three-dimensional winged creatures made by New York City cabinetmakers in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Used here are griffins (or gryphons) which are amalgamation of the head and wings of an eagle with the body of a lion. The example on this table is similar to one depicted in plate 5 (part D) in The New-York Book of Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair Work, published in 1817. Such carved figures were an expensive option for this type of stylish furniture.

The mate to this table is in a private collection (see Elizabeth Feld and Stuart P. Feld, The World of Duncan Phyfe: The Art of New York, 1800-1847, (New York: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 2011), pp. 60-1, no. 26). The next most closely related example is in the collection of Winterthur Museum (acc. no. 2000.0056). The only difference is the presence of ormolu mounts and giltwood swags between the front legs. The Chipstone foundation has a related table (acc. no. 2001.6) lacking ormolu mounts and with giltwood leafage between the front legs. Another related table is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 2004.538) which had carved giltwood and vert antique dolphins as its feet. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a closely related pair of tables (acc. nos. 2008-127-1 and 2008-127-2) which have carved giltwood swags between their front legs. A sofa table and pier table in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. nos. 65.1684  and 1975.274) are additional forms with griffin supports likely made by Duncan Phyfe. The cabinetmaker Charles Honore Lannuier made related games tables as seen in the collections of the Henry Ford museum (acc. no. 64.26.1) Yale University Art Gallery (acc. no. 1966.127) and a drop leaf table in the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art (acc. no. 87.1).