A Very Fine and Extremely Rare Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Diminutive Pie-Crust Tilt-Top Bird-Cage Tea Table, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania circa 1770

Old repair to one ankle.

John S. Walton, Inc., New York

The Magazine Antiques, October 1971, in an advertisement for John S. Walton, Inc., illus., p. 468

top of birdcage cracked; right talon of one foot with large dent; top with minor cracking; 1 3/4 inch patch to pie-crust edge; 3 5/8 inch patch to pie-crust edge; tow detachment holes as evidence of turning brace; cleats have been re-attached-for photographs with them off, please contact department.
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 diminutive proportions, a piecrust top and superbly carved standard 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" "claw feet," and "Leaves on the knees."¹ Fluting the pillar added an additional 5 shillings to the cost.

The present example was fashioned with a finely figured piecrust top comprised of eight repeat passages, a compressed ball standard overlaid with rocaille carving on a punchwork ground, and a tripod base with acanthus-carved knees gracefully descending to powerful claw feet. Several Philadelphia tea tables are known with the same design and very closely related carving, which collectively appear to represent the work of the same shop and carver. Identical knee carving, including the deeply-carved triangle at the top of each leg is found on the Thomas Fisher tea table that sold three times in these rooms, most recently in Important American Furniture from the Collection of the Late Thomas Mellon and Betty Evans, June 19, 1998, sale no. 7164, lot 2143.²  The Fisher table similarly displays a piecrust top, closely related birdcage with a rounded edge, compressed ball standard of the same pattern, and claw feet. It bears an engraved silver plaque on the underside of the top which reads: "Came from Stenton, Belonged to Thomas Fisher 1741-1810, Grand Father of Thomas Rodman Fisher 1803-1861, Grand Father of Elizabeth Rodman Fisher Carpenter, (Mrs. Robert Glendinning) 1870-1942."

A tea table with particularly rich carving made for Michael and Miriam Gratz of Philadelphia exhibits very similar overall design and carving on the compressed ball and molding of the standard.³ That table, or an identical example, was included in the Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition of 1929.⁴

¹ Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985), p. 193.
² Also on June 30, 1984, sale 5208, lot 693 as the property of a descendant of the original owner and again on February 1, 1986, sale 5429, lot 645.
³ See Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone, (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin, 1984), no. 146, pp. 312-3.
⁴ See American Art Galleries, Loan Exhibition of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Furniture & Glass ...for the Benefit of the National Council of Girl Scouts, Inc., New York, September 25-October 9, 1929.