The Bunting Family Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Pie Crust Tilt-Top Tea Table, Philadelphia, circa 1770

underside of top bears an old jelly label with ink inscription Property of Estate of Susanna/ Lloyd Bunting. Fine example/ of Chippendale cabinet ware/ obtained by appraisement from/ home of G-- Ann Bunting/ by her nephew, Saml Bunting.

Israel Sack, Inc., New York.

(Heavily refinished) Minor lip repairs to top. Battens possibly reset. With later Y-brace and formerly fitted with casters.
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.

Philadelphia Rococo tilt-top tea tables of this quality with a piecrust top, a carved standard and claw feet are among the greatest achievements of American furniture design. The 1786 Philadelphia book of prices indicates that the form was a significant expense, costing £5-15-0 for a mahogany table like this one with a “Scollop’d Top & Carv’d Pillar” and “claw feet.”¹ Fluting the pillar added an additional five shillings to the cost.

The present example was made with a finely figured piecrust mahogany top comprised of eight repeat passages, a fluted compressed ball standard, and a tripod base with C-scroll and acanthus-carved knees gracefully descending to powerful claw feet. The distinctive knee carving with its cartouche of opposing C-scrolls flanked by acanthus leaves recalls patterns of carving found on the knees of tea tables attributed to the “Garvan carver,” a talented and prolific carver who worked in Philadelphia during the mid-eighteenth century and consistently repeated design motifs amongst his oeuvre. One table with this motif descended in the McMichael-Tilghman family of Philadelphia and was likely originally owned by John Baynton, a prominent merchant in Philadelphia. It sold in these rooms, The Acme of Perfection Tea Table, January 19, 2008, lot 168.  Another with a history in the Fisher-Fox family sold at Christie’s, Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Prints, October 3, 2007, sale 1882, lot 94. A third example was formerly in the collection of Stratford Hall and sold at Christie’s, Highly Important American Furniture: Property Deaccessioned from Stratford Hall Plantation, December 4, 2003, sale 1334, lot 3. A fourth tea table with this knee carving is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.² Another is in the Karolik Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.³ The tables in this group also display similarly articulated claw and ball feet with pronounced angular talons.  A tea table with the same overall form was formerly in the collection of Hermann Clarke of Boston, Massachusetts and later in the collection of Charles K. Davis.⁴

¹ Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, p. 193.
² Accession 18.110.12.
³ Accession 39.146.
⁴ See Israel Sack Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Colleciton, Volume V, P4354, pp. 1326-7.