.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Illustrating an iconic eighteenth-century design, this card table is a masterful survival of New York craftsmanship. Its deeply shaped top, bold gadrooning and quintessentially New York squared ball and claw feet place it among the Type I or 'Van Rensselaer' group tables, one of two categories defined by Morrison H. Heckscher in 1973. Type I tables display a "solid, powerful design" and contrast with the lighter, more delicate asethetic of Type II or 'Beekman' group tables. Named after an example that is said to have descended from Stephen Van Rensselaer II (1742-1769) (fig. 2), the Type I tables are also distinguished by the presence of carving on the sides of the rear knees and feet with rear talons that form an uninterruped line with the backs of the legs. The Type I tables display four distinct patterns in the knee carving, which suggest the work of several carvers. This table, with its knees each embellished with acanthus leaves bunched together by a horizontal C-scroll, is part of Hecskcher's subgroup C and is one of at least five known with this knee design, including an example now at Winterthur Museum (fig. 1) (Morrison H. Heckscher, "The New York Serpentine Card Table," The Magazine Antiques (May 1973), pp. 974-983). For another Type I table, see lot 140 in this sale.
In 1991, Frank M. Levy expanded upon Heckscher's study and included the table offered here as the work of a specific, though unnamed shop. As several of the tables made in this shop, including this one, have associations with the Van Rensselaer family, Levy also refers to this group as 'Van Rensselaer', while it is a subgroup of Heckscher's 'Van Rensselaer' or Type I tables. Levy's 'Van Rensselaer' shop comprises all the tables with bunched-acanthus leaf knee carving as well as the Stephen Van Rensselaer II table in fig. 2 and an example now at the Art Institute of Chicago, both of which feature carving with asymetrically placed C-scrolls on the knees. As seen on the table offered here, distinguishing construction features of this group include: The presence of a single mortise-and-tenon at the center of the back edges of the two top boards, serpentine shaping of the interior rails, gadrooned molding nailed to the underside of the front and side skirts with shaped back edges, the removal of the excess wood on the interior at the junctures of the front and side rails, the joining of the interior and exterior rear rails with three or four screws and the presence of a hidden drawer. As Levy discusses, the 'Van Rensselaer' group is closely related to but distinct from the shop run by Marinus Willett and Jonathan Pearsee in New York City between 1763 and 1775; key differences seen on the Willett/Pearsee shop tables include the lack of a mortise-and-tenon joint on the back edges of the top leaves, more angular profiles to the cut-outs resulting from the removal of excess wood behind the front legs and the joining of the interior and exterior rear rails with five screws. Despite these differences, the overall similarity between the practices of the two shops point to the close communication between the makers of the two groups-possibly through the employment of the same craftsmen or the close proximity of their shops. Based on output as evidenced by survival rates and shop markings, Levy postulates that the 'Van Rensselaer' shop was relatively large and well organized. Along with the Willet/Pearsee shop, the 'Van Rensselaer' group is represented by the greatest number of survivals and markings on the interior boards, such as the X inscribed on this table's interior rails, suggest a shop large enough to accommodate a degree of division of labor (Frank M. Levy, "The Most Opulent Form: A Structural Analysis of New York Five-Legged Card Tables" (Master's Thesis, University of Delaware, 1991), for the 'Van Rensselaer' group, see pp. 44-58; for the Willett-Pearsee group, see lot 140 in this sale and Frank M. Levy, "A Maker of New York Card Tables Identified," The Magazine Antiques (May 1993), pp. 756-763).
The other known card tables with bunched-acanthus leaf knee carving comprise: An example at Winterthur Museum (fig. 1; Joseph Downs, American Furniture: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods (New York, 1952), no. 340); an example sold, Christie's, New York, 17 January 2003, lot 303; an example sold, Sotheby's, New York, Property of a Virginia Family, 20-21 January 2012, lot 255; an example at the New Jersey Historical Society (Levy 1991, pp. 123-124, cat. 26); and an example previously owned by a Pennsylvania family and illustrated in The Magazine Antiques (April 1950), p. 171. The two tables with C-scroll decorated legs ascribed to the same shop by Levy comprise the Stephen Van Rensselaer II table (fig. 2; Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture: The Queen Anne and Chippendale Styles (New York, 1985), pp. 169-172, cat. 102) and a table now at the Art Institute of Chicago (acc. no. 1973.564; Levy 1991, p. 124, cat. 27).
Bearing a printed calling card with a graphite inscription and a stamped brand, this table reveals clues to its history. The card, affixed to the interior back of the hidden drawer, reads Mr. Van Rensselaer, and strongly suggests that the table was previously owned by a member of the renowned New York family. Related furniture owned by the same family includes the card table made for Stephen Van Rensselaer II (fig. 2) and four different sets of tassel-back chairs that descended in various branches of the family. These chairs feature a number of design elements similar to those seen on the card tables attributed to the 'Van Rensselaer' shop, including C-scrolls, gadrooning and squared ball-and-claw feet whose rear talons form an uninterrupted line with the backs of the front legs (Heckscher 1985, pp. 70-72, 169-172, cats. 28, 29, 102).
Handwritten in twentieth-century script on top of the calling card is For Mr. James M. Borgel, which may refer to James Milton Borger (1916-1992), who is recorded at least once with his last name spelt Borgel. A machine operator at the Carborundum Company in Niagara Falls, New York, Borger seems an unlikely candidate to have owned such a table, but apart from a James Melvin Borger (1922-1994) of Kansas, he stands as the only individual found living in America in the early twentieth century with a name that approximates the inscription on the calling card. Born in Monshannon and later living in Snow Shoe, both in Centre County, Pennsylvania, James Borger, like his father, began his working life as a coal miner. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army in Buffalo, New York and after being discharged, lived and worked in Niagara Falls for the remainder of his life (US Federal Census Records, 1920-1940; Niagara Falls City Directory, 1942-1958; National Archives and Records Administration, U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 [database on-line] (Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005); James M. Borger [obituary], The Buffalo News, 21 November 1992). Numerous Van Rensselaer descendants lived and worked in central Pennsylvania and western New York, and Borger may have come into contact with one of these individuals through his work or military service or he may have simply acquired the table at a local auction or estate sale. The table is also twice stamped with the brand, J. HAFFNER and may refer to another previous owner, or perhaps a craftsman who may have worked on the table either at the time it was made or at a later date. There were numerous Haffner and Haefner families living in western New York in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including several in Niagara Falls. One of these, Frank J. Haefner (1884-1950), is listed as living on 13th Street in 1946, the same street where James Milton Borger had lived in 1942 (Niagara Falls City Directories, 1942, 1946).
In 1991, Frank M. Levy expanded upon Heckscher's study and included the table offered here as the work of a specific, though unnamed shop. As several of the tables made in this shop, including this one, have associations with the Van Rensselaer family, Levy also refers to this group as 'Van Rensselaer', while it is a subgroup of Heckscher's 'Van Rensselaer' or Type I tables. Levy's 'Van Rensselaer' shop comprises all the tables with bunched-acanthus leaf knee carving as well as the Stephen Van Rensselaer II table in fig. 2 and an example now at the Art Institute of Chicago, both of which feature carving with asymetrically placed C-scrolls on the knees. As seen on the table offered here, distinguishing construction features of this group include: The presence of a single mortise-and-tenon at the center of the back edges of the two top boards, serpentine shaping of the interior rails, gadrooned molding nailed to the underside of the front and side skirts with shaped back edges, the removal of the excess wood on the interior at the junctures of the front and side rails, the joining of the interior and exterior rear rails with three or four screws and the presence of a hidden drawer. As Levy discusses, the 'Van Rensselaer' group is closely related to but distinct from the shop run by Marinus Willett and Jonathan Pearsee in New York City between 1763 and 1775; key differences seen on the Willett/Pearsee shop tables include the lack of a mortise-and-tenon joint on the back edges of the top leaves, more angular profiles to the cut-outs resulting from the removal of excess wood behind the front legs and the joining of the interior and exterior rear rails with five screws. Despite these differences, the overall similarity between the practices of the two shops point to the close communication between the makers of the two groups-possibly through the employment of the same craftsmen or the close proximity of their shops. Based on output as evidenced by survival rates and shop markings, Levy postulates that the 'Van Rensselaer' shop was relatively large and well organized. Along with the Willet/Pearsee shop, the 'Van Rensselaer' group is represented by the greatest number of survivals and markings on the interior boards, such as the X inscribed on this table's interior rails, suggest a shop large enough to accommodate a degree of division of labor (Frank M. Levy, "The Most Opulent Form: A Structural Analysis of New York Five-Legged Card Tables" (Master's Thesis, University of Delaware, 1991), for the 'Van Rensselaer' group, see pp. 44-58; for the Willett-Pearsee group, see lot 140 in this sale and Frank M. Levy, "A Maker of New York Card Tables Identified," The Magazine Antiques (May 1993), pp. 756-763).
The other known card tables with bunched-acanthus leaf knee carving comprise: An example at Winterthur Museum (fig. 1; Joseph Downs, American Furniture: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods (New York, 1952), no. 340); an example sold, Christie's, New York, 17 January 2003, lot 303; an example sold, Sotheby's, New York, Property of a Virginia Family, 20-21 January 2012, lot 255; an example at the New Jersey Historical Society (Levy 1991, pp. 123-124, cat. 26); and an example previously owned by a Pennsylvania family and illustrated in The Magazine Antiques (April 1950), p. 171. The two tables with C-scroll decorated legs ascribed to the same shop by Levy comprise the Stephen Van Rensselaer II table (fig. 2; Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture: The Queen Anne and Chippendale Styles (New York, 1985), pp. 169-172, cat. 102) and a table now at the Art Institute of Chicago (acc. no. 1973.564; Levy 1991, p. 124, cat. 27).
Bearing a printed calling card with a graphite inscription and a stamped brand, this table reveals clues to its history. The card, affixed to the interior back of the hidden drawer, reads Mr. Van Rensselaer, and strongly suggests that the table was previously owned by a member of the renowned New York family. Related furniture owned by the same family includes the card table made for Stephen Van Rensselaer II (fig. 2) and four different sets of tassel-back chairs that descended in various branches of the family. These chairs feature a number of design elements similar to those seen on the card tables attributed to the 'Van Rensselaer' shop, including C-scrolls, gadrooning and squared ball-and-claw feet whose rear talons form an uninterrupted line with the backs of the front legs (Heckscher 1985, pp. 70-72, 169-172, cats. 28, 29, 102).
Handwritten in twentieth-century script on top of the calling card is For Mr. James M. Borgel, which may refer to James Milton Borger (1916-1992), who is recorded at least once with his last name spelt Borgel. A machine operator at the Carborundum Company in Niagara Falls, New York, Borger seems an unlikely candidate to have owned such a table, but apart from a James Melvin Borger (1922-1994) of Kansas, he stands as the only individual found living in America in the early twentieth century with a name that approximates the inscription on the calling card. Born in Monshannon and later living in Snow Shoe, both in Centre County, Pennsylvania, James Borger, like his father, began his working life as a coal miner. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army in Buffalo, New York and after being discharged, lived and worked in Niagara Falls for the remainder of his life (US Federal Census Records, 1920-1940; Niagara Falls City Directory, 1942-1958; National Archives and Records Administration, U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 [database on-line] (Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005); James M. Borger [obituary], The Buffalo News, 21 November 1992). Numerous Van Rensselaer descendants lived and worked in central Pennsylvania and western New York, and Borger may have come into contact with one of these individuals through his work or military service or he may have simply acquired the table at a local auction or estate sale. The table is also twice stamped with the brand, J. HAFFNER and may refer to another previous owner, or perhaps a craftsman who may have worked on the table either at the time it was made or at a later date. There were numerous Haffner and Haefner families living in western New York in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including several in Niagara Falls. One of these, Frank J. Haefner (1884-1950), is listed as living on 13th Street in 1946, the same street where James Milton Borger had lived in 1942 (Niagara Falls City Directories, 1942, 1946).