Card Table
Thomas Affleck, American (born Scotland), 1740 - 1795. Made for General John Cadwalader, American, 1742 - 1786.
Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
Period:
ColonialDate:
1770-1771Medium:
Mahogany, yellow pine, yellow poplar, oakDimensions:
28 7/8 x 39 x 19 3/4 inches (73.3 x 99.1 x 50.2 cm)Curatorial Department:
American Art
* Gallery 286, American Art, second floor
Accession Number:1984-6-1Credit Line:
Purchased for the Cadwalader Collection with funds contributed by the Mabel Pew Myrin Trust and with the gift of an anonymous donor, 1984
This exceptional card or gaming table---with its strong curves, sharp knee angles, and hairy paw feet---appears on an invoice to John Cadwalader from cabinetmaker Thomas Affleck dated October 13, 1770: "commode card tables @ £5 . . . £10."
Explore the Collections
Philadelphia Museum of Art Handbook (2014 Edition)The sinuous lines and sumptuous carving of this mahogany card table, which is one of a pair, demonstrate the capability of colonial Philadelphia furniture makers and carvers to match or even exceed the quality of similar pieces made in London. Trained in his native Scotland, cabinetmaker Thomas Affleck oversaw the production of furniture commissioned for the lavish Philadelphia house of merchant John Cadwalader and his wife, Elizabeth Lloyd, whose portrait by Charles Willson Peale is in the Museum’s collection. The table’s Rococo-style carved ornament, including the boldly articulated hairy-paw feet, was designed to complement its commode, or curved, profile and echo the elaborate woodwork in the Cadwaladers’ house. Alexandra Kirtley, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Handbook. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014, p. 266.
* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit.
