Card table (one of a pair)
1790–1800
Object PlaceProbably Baltimore, Massachusetts, United States
Medium/TechniqueMahogany, veneered with crotch-grain on pine, inlaid panel of curly maple and rosewood, walnut
DimensionsOverall: 75.2 x 89.5 x 44.1 cm (29 5/8 x 35 1/4 x 17 3/8 in.)
Credit LineThe M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts
Accession number39.61
On View
Not on viewClassificationsFurniture
Collections
Card playing was one of the few social activities in which men and women participated as equals-something reinforced by the seating around the table, at which each player had his or her own side. Popular games such as whist or loo required skill and cunning and left plenty of room for flirting and innuendo. This Baltimore card table is decorated with an inlaid urn, a direct reference to vessels from ancient Greece and Rome.
InscriptionsCalculations in chalk on underside of top.Provenance1936, offered for sale by Israel Sack; purchased through Israel Sack for "The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts" (Accession Date January 12, 1939)
1795–1810
about 1800
