Artist/Maker: Unknown
Created: 1800
Origin/Purchase: Baltimore or Philadelphia
Materials: mahogany, mahogany veneer, satinwood; beech and poplar
Dimensions: 75.6 × 95.3 × 31.8 (29 3/4 × 37 1/2 × 12 1/2 in.)
Location: Parlor
Provenance: Thomas Jefferson; by purchase to Dr. Addison Dold of Augusta County at the Dispersal Sale in 1827; (table 60-59) by descent to Charles J. Connolly; by bequest to Ruth G. Connolly; by gift to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 1976; (table 82-34) by descent to G. Woodbridge Williams; by purchase to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 1982
Accession Number: 1960-59; 1982-34
Historical Notes: This Federal card table and its match were two of thirteen tea and card tables identified on Jefferson's 1815 "Memorandum of Taxable Property." They appear stylistically compatible with similar tables made in Baltimore, but the maker and place of origin are unknown.[1] Although no specific mention of them is known, they might have been secured for Jefferson while he was President by his purchasing agent, Thomas Claxton.
The tables have four square, tapering legs. The right rear one is a flyleg, which swings to support the top when the table is opened. The circular playing surface is covered with green baize. The inlaid ornamentation includes satinwood teardrop panels (characteristic of Baltimore) above the legs, inverted flowers on each leg, a sunburst on the closed top, and bands of satinwood encircling the top.
- Text from Stein, Worlds, 268
