Pair Card Tables in the Neo-Classical Taste, about 1820
New York (possibly Michael Allison [1773-1855])
Mahogany and ebony (secondary woods: mahogany, pine, and poplar), with brass line inlay, gilt-brass castors and hinges, and marbled paper
29 7/8 in. high, 35 7/8 in. wide, 18 in. deep; open: 35 7/8 in. by 35 3/8 in.
Duncan Phyfe had many admirers among the New York cabinetmaking trade and beyond,and Peter Kenny, lead curator of the 2011 Metropolitan Museum of Art Phyfe exhibition, has noted that parallel Phyfe card tables typically have slightly raised panels that punctuate the rounded corners of the skirt (for example, see Kenny et al., Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York [New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011], pp. 201–02 Plates 26 and 27), and thinks that the present pair of tables is likely by one of his disciples, possibly Michael Allison (1773–1855).