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Card table (one of a pair)
1790–1800
Object Place: Probably Baltimore, Massachusetts, United States
Medium/Technique
Mahogany, veneered with crotch-grain on pine, inlaid panel of curly maple and rosewood, walnut
Dimensions
Overall: 75.2 x 89.5 x 44.1 cm (29 5/8 x 35 1/4 x 17 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts
Accession Number39.61
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsFurniture – Tables, stands, screens
Card playing was one of the few social activities in which men and women participated as equals-something reinforced by the seating around the table, at which each player had his or her own side. Popular games such as whist or loo required skill and cunning and left plenty of room for flirting and innuendo. This Baltimore card table is decorated with an inlaid urn, a direct reference to vessels from ancient Greece and Rome.
Catalogue Raisonné
Eighteenth-Century American Arts No. 63 (one of a pair)
InscriptionsCalculations in chalk on underside of top.
Provenance1936, offered for sale by Israel Sack; purchased through Israel Sack for "The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts" (Accession Date January 12, 1939)