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A View of Charles-Town, the Capital of South Carolina," 1776
Published by Samuel Smith
Engraving on Paper
Lent by the Chipstone Foundation 1992.1

Tea Table, 1770–80
Charleston, South Carolina
Mahogany
Lent by the Chipstone Foundation, partial gift of John and Cynthia Cross in memory of Charlotte Elton Cross 2002.1

In colonial America, tea-drinking became the most fashionable social activity of the day, and tea tables—with thier shiny surfaces and delicate legs—looked as elegant and sophisticated as the tea-drinkers themselves. By the 1770s, when craftsmen in Charleston, South Carolina made this masterfully carved example, the tea table had become an essential element of the American parlor.