An IMPORTANT CHIPPENDALE CARVED AND FIGURED MAHOGANY five-leg Serpentine-Front GAMES TABLE, New York, Circa 1765

Hinged serpentine top opening to a yellow damask playing surface fitted with candle reserves and wells, the back rail fitted with what appears to be the original small drawer.  The drawer with chalked numeral 2.

Gay Montague (1891-1988), daughter of Virginia governor, Andrew Jackson Montague, was a well-known Virginia antiquarian. She was prominent in the creation of Old Town Alexandria and published the book, Seaport in Virginia, George Washington's Alexandria. She restored a number of homes there, including a family residence "Lord Fairfax House." The table resided at a family home, "Toddsbury" (c. 1652), in the Tidewater region of rural Virginia and has been at that location as long as the consignor, her direct descendant, has known (over 50 years).

Proper front left leg with a 2 1/4 inch replacement to front left side bracket; triangular patch to lower rear section of skirt at juncture with proper back right leg and with additional crack in this section; back of proper back right leg with old crack and with later pins filled with wood putty, proper back right leg with a loss to the back bracket approximately 3 inches by 1 inch; several stress cracks and shrinkage to swing leg; proper rear left leg with pin to corner and rectangular block section with cracks due to prior repaired break; vertical crack running from gadrooning to underside of top to proper left side apron.
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 card table is a masterpiece in its brilliant design, masterful proportions, and exquisite and unique carving. It is characterized by a serpentine façade with a carved front rail and large projecting front square corners, a playing surface with counters and candle rests, cabriole legs with leaf- and scroll-carved knees and claw feet, and the addition of a fifth leg that pivots outward to support the top when opened. The form is considered one of the masterpieces of American Rococo furniture design and multiple examples have been identified, representing several shop traditions.

Possessing a proportion, grace and delicacy seldom found on others of its type, this one is exemplary for its sophisticated curvilinear form overlaid with exceptional rococo carving. The maker's understanding of the rococo aesthetic is evident in the serpentine shaping of the skirt and dynamic execution of the cabriole legs, with their pronounced S-curve and bold claw feet. The carving is especially fine, particularly in the integration of the gadrooning into the skirt and the rich acanthus knee carving draping down the legs.

This table relates to a group of tables identified as Type II, or Beekman, card tables by Morrison Heckscher in "The New York Serpentine Card Table," The Magazine Antiques (May 1973): 974-983. Type II tables were named for a pair of tables owned by James W. Beekman (1732-1807), who may have purchased one from the New York cabinetmaker William Proctor on January 15, 1768. The tables were on long term loan to the New York Historical Society and sold in these rooms, Important Americana, January 21-2, 2000, sale 7420, lot 718, for $910,000.

Tables of the Beekman type similarly display a shallow serpentine skirt, a delicate gadrooned molding below the front skirt, elegant foliate and C-scroll knee carving on the front legs, and claw feet with high balls and pointed claws. Extant tables of this type most similar to this one include an example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and one with a history in the Van Vechten family that sold in these rooms, Highly Important Americana from the Stanley Paul Sax Collection, January 17, 1998, sale 7087, lot 467.¹ Another with related gadrooning, C-scroll- and flowerhead-carved brackets and claw feet descended in the Meserole-Hogglandt-Jagger family of New York.²  That table reflects a similar stance and proportions but lacks carving on the knees. One illustrated by Sack as a "masterpiece" also exhibits the C-scroll and flowerhead carved brackets, delicate gadrooning, and powerful claw feet.³  The Varick Family table at the State Department is also similar in its carving, elegant proportions, and uncarved rear legs.⁴ 

¹ See Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, no. 103, pp. 171-3.
² See Israel Sack Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Volume VI, P4632, p. 1570.
³ See Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture, New York, 1993, p. 283.
⁴ See Clement Conger and Alexandra Rollins, Treasures of State, New York, 1991, no. 21, pp. 102-3.