c. 1839

Tea Table with Figures in a Chinese Formal Garden

Artist/maker unknown

Highly refined lacquer furniture—generally in the form of chests or cabinets made in China and Japan for their domestic markets—was available, in limited quantities, in Europe from as early as the mid-seventeenth century. These costly and cherished objects were found in many of Europe’s most prestigious households, where they were often raised on stands with elaborate gilded or japanned (the European version of lacquer) decoration.

By the early nineteenth century, the fashion for Asian lacquerware had reached the middle classes in Europe and the United States. In response, Asian craftsmen began to manufacture Western-style lacquer furniture such as this example. This table was made for Philadelphian John A. Lewis while he was in China. Lewis’s father was in the China trade and when he died, John and his brother took over the business, which was located at the southeast corner of Walnut and Front Streets in Philadelphia.