house, while in the "closett" in the front room were 

 "6 Tea Cups & Saucers" along with other ceramic 

 wares.*" 



The most popular type of tea table apparently was 

 the circular tripod; that is, a circular top supported 

 on a pillar with three feet. This kind of tabic is seen 

 again and again in the prints and paintings (figs. 1 , 



1" Suffolk County [Massachusetts] Probate Court Record 

 Books (hereinafter cited as .Suffolk County Record Books), vol. 

 53, p. 444, inventory of Mrs. Hannah Pemberton, Boston, June 

 22, 1758; vol. 39, p. 185, inventory of Joseph Blake, Boston, 

 September 18, 1746. Among other inventories in .Suffolk 

 County Record Books listing tea tables with tea equipment 

 thereon were those of .Sendal Williams, Boston, March 13, 1747 



2, 9, 14), and is listed in the inventories of the period. 

 These tables, usually of walnut or mahogany, had 

 stationary or tilt tops with plain, scalloped, or carved 

 edges. Square or round, tripod or four-legged, the 

 taljles were usually placed against the wall of the 

 room until teatime \vhen, in the words of Ferdinand 

 Bayard, "a mahogany taWe is iirought forward and 



(vol. 43, p. 407); Revd. Dr. Benja. Coiman, Boston, September 

 1, 1747 (vol. 40, p. 266); Mr. Nathl. Cunningham, February 6, 

 1748 (vol. 42, p. 156); Joseph Snelling, Boston, December 8, 

 1748 (vol. 42, p. 60); Eliza. Chaunay, Boston, May 28, 1757 

 (vol. 52, p. 382); Gillam Taller, Boston, October 18, 1757 (vol. 

 52, p. 817); Jon. Skimmer. Boston, October 30, 1778 (vol. 77, 

 p. 565). 



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76 



Figure 8. — A sketch by Louis Guillaume Otto that was enclosed in a letter to Nancy .Shippen 

 of Philadelphia about 1780. The sketch indicates the placement of the furniture in the 

 .Shippen parlor and the location of the tea-party participants. The "Explication" accompany- 

 ing the drawing reads in part: "A. Old D"" .S'''rp!-n sitting before the Chimney. . . . B. M^ 

 L" walking up and down, speaking and laughing by intervalls. ... C. Miss N*"'.*' [.Shippen] 

 before the tea table. ... D. M^s Shipp"> lost in sweet meditations. E. F. G. Some strangers 

 which the Spy [Mr. Otto] could not distinguish. H. Cyrus [the butler] standing in the middle 

 of the room — half asleep. /. M'' 0"° standing before the window. . . ." From Shippen 

 Papers, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress. 



BULLETIN 225: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY .AND TECHNOLOGY 



