The Thomas Elwyn Federal Inlaid and Figured Mahogany Games Table, Adam Hains, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1810

Branded with a name T·ELWYN.  Label reads All kinds of / cabinet and chair work/done by / Adam Hains.../Philadelphia; proper left paterae restored.

Originally owned by Thomas Elwyn (1775-1816) and his wife Elizabeth Langdon Elwyn (1777-1860);

Came into the Shattuck family to Elizabeth Perkins Shattuck (1881-1977), who married Henry Bryant Bigelow (d. 1967), the famous naturalist, in Maine in 1906;

To their daughter, Mary Cleveland Bigelow Soutter;

Thence by descent to the present owner.

secondary wood is white pine; proper left and right rear vertical glue blocks missing; proper left paterae restored; proper left leg broken at junction of skirt.
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 table is an important survival of Federal furniture since it displays a label of its maker and brand of its original owner. It was made Adam Hains (1768-after 1820), a Philadelphia cabinetmaker who worked on North Third Street at Vine from 1793 to 1797 and at No. 261 South Market Street until 1803, when he moved to Berks County.  His label is found several armchairs, including a pair at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and another pair at Historic New England, the latter commissioned as part of a set of six armchairs and two settees for the Bow Parlor of "The Vale," the country home of Theodore Lyman of Boston.¹  His name also appears branded on a Pembroke table at Winterthur Museum.²

Branded "T·ELWYN," this table was first owned by Thomas Elwyn (1775-1816), an attorney and representative to the New Hampshire State Legislature. He was born in 1775 in Canterbury, England and studied at Trinity College, Oxford before coming to Philadelphia to study law by 1797. That same year he married Elizabeth Langdon, the daughter of the United States senator John Langdon of Portsmouth. They lived in Portsmouth in the home of her uncle, Woodbury Langdon, and owned a house in Philadelphia on Sansom Street. This table likely appears in the estate inventory taken upon Elwyn's death in 1816.³  In addition to this table, the Elwyn's purchased other pieces of furniture in Philadelphia, including a ladies cabinet and writing table at Historic New England made by the Philadelphia cabinetmaker, John Sailor and also branded "T·ELWYN."⁴

¹ See Wendy Cooper, In Praise of America, 1980, no. 95, p. 77 and Beatrice Garvan, Federal Philadelphia, 1785-1825, 1987, fig. 32, p. 55.
² See Joseph Downs, American Furniture, New York, 1952, no. 314.
³ Thomas Elwyn, 1816 inventory, old series, docket 9270, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Probate.
⁴ See Brock Jobe, et al, Portsmouth Furniture, Hanover, N.H., 1993, no. 30.