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Tilt-top tea table
about 1760–75
Object Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Medium/Technique
Mahogany
Dimensions
Overall: 75.9 x 84.8 cm (29 7/8 x 33 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts
Accession Number39.146
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsFurniture – Tables, stands, screens
When not in use, the top of this table could be tilted vertically. The tilting mechanism allows the tabletop to swivel while horizontal as well. This adaptable design permitted hostesses to serve tea without reaching or to store the table against a wall, while still exhibiting its craftsmanship and beauty. The robust, elaborate carving on this table is attributed to one of the city's most skilled artisans-a craftsman whose work is well known by its style, but whose identity remains a mystery.
Catalogue Raisonné
Eighteenth-Century American Arts No. 56
ProvenanceThe M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts. Purchased via dealer Frances Nichols of Marblehead from Dr. Edwin A. Locke of Wilton, New Hampshire. Dr. Locke had purchased the table from dealer Isreal Sack, New York. Sack had purchased it from dealer Hyman Kaufman of South Sudbury, MA. Kaufman had purchased it about 1905 from a private home in Newcastle, Delaware and said "it came from Mayor Sheppley, of Philadelphia."