Charleston, South Carolina, 1755-1770
Mahogany
Catalog no. 98
Tea tables were produced in many southern cabinet centers. Design and construction varied considerably from one locale to another, however. The attribution of this mahogany table is based on its close aesthetic and structural parallels with a number of other tea tables and candlestands that descended in wealthy Charleston families. Details common to the group include turned baluster-and-column shafts, slipper feet with sharply ridged upper profiles and large pads, and the use of a solid chamfered block instead of a “birdcage” at the juncture between the shaft and the table top.
Charleston cabinet shops often made both plain and ornate versions of the same furniture forms to suit customers' needs and pocketbooks. The unidentified maker of this table also produced a fully articulated example with a scalloped top, carved shaft, and ball-and-claw feet.