EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS, PROBABLY SALEM, 1760-1780

With its creased cabriole knees, boldly cusped corners on its top and the articulated talons of its ball-and-claw feet, this drop-leaf table is characteristic of Salem, Massachusetts furniture from the Chippendale period. It is notable, and possibly singular, however, for the imbricated or scale-like carving on the balls of its feet. Imbricated ornament features in the work of English designer William Kent and on elaborate George II furniture, but its use in America is exceedingly rare. A pair of armchairs documented to Salem has handholds embellished with bird's heads and feather-like carving, details that are also akin to English precedents. Such craftsmanship demonstrates the presence of at least one highly skilled carver, who may have trained in London, in Salem around the time this table was made (John Vardy, Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr. William Kent (1744), p. 43; Christie's, New York, 29-30 November 2012, lot 128; Wendy A. Cooper, In Praise of America (New York, 1980) pp. 57-58, 61 and Edwin J. Hipkiss, Eighteenth-Century American Arts: The M. and M. Karolik Collection (Cambridge, 1941), no. 81, p. 144 and supplement 81).