Important Pair of Loockerman Family Chippendale Carved Mahogany Drop-Leaf Dining Table, carving attributed 'Nicholas Bernard', Philadelphia, 1770

Vincent Emerson Loockerman (1722-1785), Dover, Delaware;
To his daughter, Elizabeth (1781-1851), who married Thomas Bradford (1781-1851);
To their son, Thomas (d. 1871), a Presbyterian minister in Dover;
Thence by descent through the family;
Gene S. Bradford, Dover, Delaware;
Private collection;
Sotheby’s, Important American Furniture: The Contents of Langdon, Sale 5295, February 2, 1985, lot 1145;
Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana Including Furniture, Folk Art and Folk Paintings, Prints, Silver and Carpets, January 28, 29 and 31, 1987, sale 5551, lot 1319;
Christie’s, Important American Furniture, Folk Art, and Decorative Arts, January 18, 1996, sale 8494, lot 144 and sold for $310,500.

Katherine S. LaPrad, Thinking Locally, Acquiring Globally: The Loockerman Family of Delaware, 1630- 1790, Master's thesis, University of Delaware, Spring 2010, pp. 8, 72, 129, fig. 13.

One with minor repairs t one rule joint and adjacent loss. Some returns loose. depth (open): 62 1/2 in. and 61 3/8 in.
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 pair of tables was originally owned by Vincent Loockerman Sr. (1722-1785), a prominent Whig during the Revolution, merchant, landowner, and civic figure of Dover, Delaware. Between 1752 and 1785, he served as a member of the Delaware General Assembly, the Committee of Correspondence, and the Governor’s Council of Delaware State. In 1778, he donated land for the first Methodist Episcopal Church in Dover, located at the corner of North and Queen Streets. His grandfather, Govert Loockerman, was a Dutch landowner who emigrated to New York in 1633. He was one of the wealthiest men in New York when he died, leaving a farm at the present site of the New York Stock Exchange. His son, Jacob, became a doctor and moved to Delaware in 1681. His son, Nicholas, built the Loockermans Manor house in Dover and became one of the largest landowners in Kent County.  Vincent inherited the family home and this pair of tables was among the furnishings of the Loockerman house that appears in the inventory of his estate, taken on September 7, 1785, fifteen days after his death. The tables are listed as “2 Large Mahogany Dining Tables” in the parlour and valued at £7 10s.

These tables were inherited by Vincent’s daughter, Elizabeth (1781-1851), who married Dr. Thomas Bradford (1781-1851) of Philadelphia in 1805. They next passed to their son, Thomas (d. 1871), a Presbyterian minister in Dover. The tables continued to descend through the Bradford branch of the Loockerman family until the widow of Gene Bradford sold them in the twentieth century to the owner of “Langdon,” who later sold them in these rooms in 1985.

A set of six Philadelphia side chairs and an armchair at the Department of State with the same history in the Loockerman family appears itemized in the 1785 inventory as “6 leather bottomed Walnut chairs (old) valued as 15s. a piece and “1 Ditto Arm chair” at 22s.6d in “the blue room upstairs.”¹ A tea table, also with this Loockerman history, is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.² Several additional pieces of Philadelphia furniture originally owned by Vincent Loockerman and with the same history of descent through the Bradford family were sold along with this pair of tables at the Sotheby’s sale in 1985. These include a serpentine-top Pembroke table offered as lot 1139, a chest-on-chest attributed to Thomas Affleck with carving by Hercules Courtenay offered as lot 1144,³ a dressing table offered as lot 1150, an armchair signed by B. Randolph offered as lot 1156, and a secretary bookcase offered as lot 1163.

Another armchair from the Loockerman furnishings was formerly in the collection of Israel Sack and sold in these rooms, Selections from Israel Sack, Inc., January 20, 2002, sale 7761, lot 1376. Like the aforementioned armchair, it is stenciled ``B. Randolph’’ on the original pine seat frame and appears to be by Benjamin Randolph (1721-1791), a cabinetmaker working in Philadelphia between 1762 and 1785. Vincent Loockerman was known to have purchased furniture from Benjamin Randolph in 1774. Randolph’s receipt book at Winterthur Museum records for December 3, 1774 that Randolph paid £15 to William Martin, upholsterer, for Loockerman’s account for purchases described as “to stock” amount to £38 8s.

¹ See Clement Conger and Alexandra Rollins, Treasures of State (New York, 1991), no. 17, pp. 98-9.
² See Beatrice Garvan, Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia, 1976, no. 101, p. 127-128.
³ The chest-on-chest was later sold at Christie’s, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Britton, January 16, 1999, sale 9068, lot 614.