Description:
Rectangular tea table with a cherry top and scalloped apron, and maple cabriole legs termnating in pad feet, which was originally painted black. According to Philip Zea, tea tables were at the center of the public performance of refinement during the eighteenth century. This rectangular example, which functions as a tray on legs, was moved with ease to the middle of the parlor to serve as a stage for the tea ceremony or to share a bowl of punch. China tables stood shorter than the standard height of other tables. Drawn up to the seated hostess at tea-time, their lower height facilitated the graceful pouring and serving of tea to guests sitting or standing nearby. Between tea-times, they were placed against the wall and used to store teawares out of harm’s way, ready for the next use. If accidently jostled, their lipped edges prevented china teawares from slipping off and shattering. Made from cherry and designed with shaped, S-curve skirts, the materials and style of this example suggest that it was made in the Connecticut River Valley where the predictable and repetitive S-curves that characterize this tea table were popular in rural New England for generations after Baroque design was first introduced at the beginning of the eighteent century. Although the style became old-fashioned, it still comforted the conservative tastes of some rural New Englanders, who maintained their love of S-curves well into the early-nineteenth century. The top's molding, skirt, and top are cherry and the legs are red, or soft, maple.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1125 |
