The scalloped-top Philadelphia tea table represents the apex of Rococo furniture design and craftsmanship in the British North American colonies around the time of the Revolution. Composed of a pedestal base supported by three curved legs with anthropomorphic claw and ball feet, the table features a large round top that can be flipped open (vertical) for storage and display, or closed (horizontal) for use. The finest examples of this form, such as this one, combine perfectly proportioned sculptural form with masterful carving, such as the finely scalloped edge of the top, the delicate drapery on the compressed ball on the pillar, and the elegant descending row of bell flowers on the knees of this table. Only a few of Philadelphia’s cabinetmaking workshops were even capable of producing a table of this caliber.

Based on physical and documentary evidence, this extraordinary table is attributed to the workshop of Benjamin Randolph, one of the most successful cabinetmakers working in Philadelphia during the 1760s and 1770s. Randolph ran a large shop that included numerous apprentices, journeymen, and specialists, including several carvers. The precisely rendered carving on this table is attributed to London-trained craftsman John Pollard, whose emigration Randolph financed in 1765. Pollard worked in Randolph’s shop for 8 years until he opened his own shop in 1773, although he continued to perform services for Randolph for several more years.

Randolph’s clients included many of the most prominent citizens of Philadelphia, such as the Cadwalader, Gratz, Fisher, Powell, and Biddle families. The offered tea table descended in the Biddle and Cadwalader families. Randolph’s surviving account books record a purchase in the spring of 1775: “Clemment Biddle 6 March 1775 To Shop 5/../...,” for which Biddle paid cash. While the specific merchandise provided by Randolph is not specified, the payment (5 pounds) corresponds with the price of an elaborate tea table, as outlined in the 1772 Philadelphia cabinetmaker’s price book in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That price book lists “plain” tea tables with “clawfoot” and “leaves on knees” for four pounds, with an additional charge for the fluted pillar and scalloped top. Clement Biddle acquired this piece, as well as a mahogany sofa from another local cabinetmaker David Evans, in the months after his second marriage to wealthy Rhode Island heiress Rebekah Cornell (b. 1755 - d. 1831), when he was likely furnishing or re-furnishing his home for his new bride. A successful merchant, Biddle had signed the Non-Importation Act in 1765, and therefore, patronized local craftsmen to furnish his home, rather than import such goods from London. Biddle served in the Revolutionary War, ultimately earning the rank of General from George Washington himself.

The tea table not only represents the height of craftsmanship in late 18th-century Philadelphia, but also the height of fashion and the center of social life. The form developed in the early 18th century as increased trade with China allowed more of Western society to consume tea, then considered a luxury good. The advent of tea parties, which brought men and women together in an informal setting for spirited conversation (and often juicy gossip), made the tea table a necessary accoutrement for every society hostess throughout Europe and its colonies. Unspoken, yet socially important rules of gentility were often dubbed "tea-table decorum," suggesting that the object itself epitomized the politeness of the society that gathered around it. This elaborately carved tea table would have instantly signaled Rebekah Cornell Biddle’s refinement and status as she served guests in her new community of Philadelphia. The sophisticated tilting mechanism of this table incorporates the ability for the table to swivel in the horizontal position, allowing the hostess to serve tea by turning the table top and without reaching.

Of the surviving examples of Philadelphia rococo tea tables that incorporate the full range of embellishments, this table most closely relates to the Robb-Logan Family table at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Gratz Family table in the Kaufman Americana Collection at the National Gallery of Art, DC. Several other outstanding examples remain in private collections.

---