A Very Fine and Rare Queen Anne Carved and Figured Maple Dressing Table, Philadelphia region, Pennsylvania, circa 1760

appears to retain its original hardware

Yellow Pine and Poplar secondary wood; central brass escutcheon with tip missing, Quaker spring locks on small drawers missing, twelve later screws added through top to re-secure it, the screw heads are covered with wooded plugs, long drawer slightly warped, minor scratches to surface
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.

Finely constructed of exceptionally figured maple, this dressing table exhibits a graceful design typical of Queen Anne case furniture made in colonial Philadelphia. It displays the local preference for a case with a long drawer above two short drawers with the additional refinements of a top with shaped corners, a shaped skirt centering a pendant, and shell-carved knees. It is distinguished from others of the form by its atypical claw feet and full dustboards, details found on few tables of this type. It has survived with an old surface and original brass hardware.

A closely related dressing table with a fish-tail pendant centered in a scalloped skirt has been attributed to William Savery (1721/22-1787) on the basis of a history of descent in his family.¹  This design and distinctive pendant are also found on a maple dressing table attributed to Savery that was originally owned by the Johnson family of Philadelphia. That table was perhaps made in the same shop as the present table since both share a similar overall form as well as the same scribe lines, dovetailed construction, and full dustboards. The Johnson family dressing table may have been purchased from William Savery in 1769, on the occasion of the marriage of John Johnson and Rachel Livezey. It sold in these rooms, on January 19-21, 2007, sale 8278, lot 564 for the record price of $4,408,000. A set of six maple side chairs in a private collection with the same family history in the Johnson Family also bear an attribution to William Savery. They were sold in these rooms, Important Americana, January 20-22, 2006, sale 8158, lot 530, for the record price of $2,144,000.

William Savery was apprenticed to Solomon Fussell (c. 1704-1762) from circa 1735 to 1741 and in 1750 established a shop of his own on Second Street, between Chestnut and Market, where he continued to work for the remainder of his life as one of Philadelphia's finest cabinetmakers. An active Quaker, his patrons included many other Quakers such as the Pembertons, Drinkers, and Abel and Rebecca James. In 1754, he was appointed a ward assessor by Benjamin Franklin, who purchased furniture from Savery and Fussell in the 1740s and owned a maple dressing table similar to this one.²  Savery's estate inventory taken at his death in 1787 reveals that his important furniture was made of maple, including 6 maple chairs and 1 arm chair valued @ £4.0.0 ... a maple chest of Drawers £5.0.0 ... and a Do dressing table £1.10.0.³  Most of Savery and Fussell's accounts list maple as the primary raw material. It was clearly their wood of choice as it was plentiful in the Philadelphia area and, although difficult to work, allowed the craftsmen a high quality end product with a vibrant and strong surface.

The distinctive fish-tail pendant is displayed on several other Philadelphia dressing tables associated with Savery such as one included in the Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition and one of walnut with chamfered fluted corners, shell-carved knees and trifid feet formerly in the collection of Israel Sack, Inc.⁴  An additional walnut dressing table of this type with chamfered fluted corners, lamb's tongue carved knees and trifid feet was sold in these rooms, Property from the Collection of Gunston Hall Plantation, January 20, 2002, sale 7753, as lot 1136.

¹ See Samuel W. Woodhouse, Jr., "Philadelphia Cabinet Makers," PMA Bulletin 20, January 1925, pp. 62-63.
² See Jack Lindsey, Worldly Goods, (Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1999), no. 56, p. 145.
³ Beatrice Garvan, Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art, (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976), pp. 50-1.
⁴ See Loan Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Furniture & Glass for the Benefit of The National Council of Girl Scout, Inc. At the American Galleries ... New York City, September 25th to Ocotber 9th, 1929, (New York: Lent and Graff Company, 1929), no. 566, and American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Vol. I, (Washington D.C.:  Highland House Publications, 1969), p. 195.