Inlaid Federal Games Tables
Wilmington, 1790-1810, each with mahogany fold over top with astragal corners over conforming skirt, with oval double lined inlays and figured light wood patera at leg tops with bookend inlay, line inlaid tapered square legs, yellow pine and oak secondary, well matched tops are cut from same boards, 29 x 35-1/2 x 18 in.; open 35-1/2 in. the first with extensive veneer cracks and buckling with some associated losses at curved skirts, one front legs lightly loose and with later brace at back, otherwise generally good condition with scattered minor inlay and veneer losses and repairs particularly at cuffs; the second table with both front legs replaced, now set with oval patera skirt facings from original legs, extensive veneer buckling and cracks, some associated losses at curved skirt, partial loss of one bookend inlay, scattered losses to veneers and inlay particularly at cuffs, crack at front edge of stationary top. Provenance: Descended from John Haywood (1755-1827), of Edgecombe County and Raleigh; by descent in the family.
These tables are documented by MESDA, (see research file F-2704) and illustrated in John Bivins “Wilmington Furniture 1720 - 1860” catalogue no. 29. Bivins notes that “North Carolina card tables are rare, and the survival of a pair is exceptional; these tables were one of the furniture forms imported in great quantities, and Carolina cabinet makers no doubt found it difficult to produce them as cheaply as northern shops did.” John Haywood, North Carolina’s first Treasurer and Raleigh’s first Mayor, began construction of Haywood Hall, one of the largest buildings in town, in 1799 as a home for his family. Completed in the first few years of the 19th century, it is the oldest house within the original city limits of Raleigh still on its original foundation. The Marquis De Lafayette was Haywood’s guest in 1825. For more on Haywood Hall and the Haywood family see HaywoodHall.org
Condition
the first with extensive veneer cracks and buckling with some associated losses at curved skirts, one front legs lightly loose and with later brace at back, otherwise generally good condition with scattered minor inlay and veneer losses and repairs particularly at cuffs; the second table with both front legs replaced, now set with oval patera skirt facings from original legs, extensive veneer buckling and cracks, some associated losses at curved skirt, partial loss of one bookend inlay, scattered losses to veneers and inlay particularly at cuffs, crack at front edge of stationary top