The Important Lloyd Family Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Dressing Table, attributed to Gerrard Hopkins (w.1767-1799), carving probably by William Brampton, Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1770

Retains an early surface in carving on drawer, skirt and legs.

Edward Lloyd IV (1744 – 1796), Chase-Lloyd Mansion, Annapolis, Maryland;
Descended through Lloyd family until sold at the 1897 sale of the Chase Mansion furnishings;
Francis Shaw, Wayland, Massachusetts;
American Art Association Anderson Galleries Inc., The Superb Collection Belonging to the Estate of the Late Francis Shaw of Wayland, Mass, December 12-14, 1935, sale 4214, lot 458 and sold for $1,300.

Newton W. Elwell, Architecture, Furniture, and Interiors of Maryland and Virginia During the Eighteenth Century, (Boston: G. H. Polley, 1897), pl. IX;
William voss Elder III, "Maryland Furniture, 1760-1840," Magazine Antiques, 109.2 (February 1977): fig. 4, p. 358.

Secondary wood is Yellow Pine. The uppermost drawer divider patched at location of lock. Central bottom board replaced. Later interior drawer guides. Top reset and glue blocks later. Proper right side of top with a 2 1/2 by 2 inch chip to underside of top. Appears to retain all original knee returns. Feet have lost at most 1/8 inch in height. Interior of drawers varnished.
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.

There are many extant examples of Chippendale case furniture made in Philadelphia and other major Eastern seaboard centers before the Revolution, but Baltimore examples are extremely rare. With its interlaced shell-carved drawer, acanthus carved knees, and secondary wood choice, this dressing table displays a design clearly inspired by the Philadelphia school.

Likley made for Edward Lloyd IV (1744 – 1796), a delegate to the Continental Congress for Maryland in 1783 and 1784 and the Chase-Lloyd house in Annapolis, Maryland.  The dressing table is attributed to Gerrard Hopkins (1742-1800), a Philadelphia-trained cabinetmaker working on Gay Street in Baltimore from 1767 to 1800 on the basis of the appearance of the distinctive concave shell and stippled ground acanthus knee carving on a high chest of drawers in a private collection bearing his label.¹  Hopkins made two armchairs with nearly identical and knee carving and shells in their front rail.²  The dressing table and all of the chairs attributed to Hopkins exhibit consistencies in design, construction, and carving, such as the distinctive stippling, indicating a common shop tradition and carver. The carver may be William Bampton, who is identified in the ledger of James Brice as receiving payment for carving a virtually identical shell on the chimneypiece in the large northwest room of the James Brice House in Annapolis.³

Born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in 1742 into a prosperous Quaker family, Gerrard Hopkins trained in Philadelphia with Jonathan Shoemaker (working 1757-1793) and worked in Baltimore from 1767 at a shop on Gay Street, which became the principal site of his manufactory for 33 years.⁴ He announced his business and Philadelphia training in a 1767 advertisement, stating that he worked in "mahogany, walnut, cherry-tree, and maple...To be done with or without carved work."⁵  He also operated a sawmill, where he sold logs and boards. His business grew into a considerable enterprise and he soon became the leader of the pre- and post-Revolutionary cabinet community in Baltimore. He counted many prominent Marylanders among his clients and prospered in his business for over three decades until his death in 1800.

¹ William Voss Elder III and Jayne Stokes, American Furniture 1680-1880 from the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art, fig. 15a, p. 30.
² Sotheby’s New York, Property from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. George Fenimore Johnson, January 19, 2008, sale 8401, lot 67 and Elder and Stokes, American Furniture , no. 15, pp. 28-31.
³ Luke Beckerdite, "A Problem of Identification: Philadelphia and Baltimore Furniture Styles in the Eighteenth Century," Journal of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (May 1986), figs. 3 and 3a, pp. 28-32.
⁴ Ibid, p. 24.
⁵ Ibid, p. 25.