Oval-top tea table

Label

Rather than a central pedestal to support this oval tabletop, four bold legs upend our expectations. They create an intriguing juxtaposition between the square support structure and oval top. The once-known cabinetmaker turned the legs on a lathe, chipping away tiny shards of wood to fashion their undulating forms. With few exceptions, European-style sculpture did not flourish in eighteenth-century, British-colonized North America. Locally constructed furniture approximated the closest thing to sculpture. Thus, a table could be visually pleasing while still serving a function, such as drinking imported tea.

From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Course History

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Art History 40.01, American Art and Identity, Mary Coffey, Fall 2023

Creative Writing 10.02, Writing and Reading Fiction, Katherine Crouch, Fall 2023

Geography 11.01, Qualitative Methods, Emma Colven, Fall 2023

Geography 2.01, Introduction to Human Geography, Coleen Fox, Fall 2023

Geography 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Fall 2023

English 30.01, African and African American Studies 34.01, Early Black American LIterature, Michael Chaney, Winter 2024

Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Writing 5.07, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Exhibition History

Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, Israel Sack Gallery and the Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 29, 2023-November 24, 2024.

Publication History

John T. Kirk, American Furniture: Understanding Styles, Construction, and Quality. New York: H. N. Abrams, 2000, p. 36 (fig. 33).

Provenance

Dealer Roger Bacon (1904-1982), Exeter, New Hampshire; sold to John T. Kirk, about 1965; sold back to Roger Bacon, 1975; sold to Richard Charles Albright (1939-2019) and Terry Keppel Albright (1942-2018), late 1975 or early 1976; bequeathed to their sons, Aaron, Tim, and Bear Albright, 2019; given to present collection, 2020

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Subjects