Decorative arts
Stand
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Many 18th-century furniture forms were versatile and lightweight so that they could be easily moved around a room. This table, with its relatively small top, might have been used as a candlestand, a tea table, a game table, or a surface for small meals. With a metal hinge that allowed the top to be moved from a horizontal to vertical position, this stand could be stored against a wall when not in use. The molded rim of its circular top, the small baluster-shaped pillars of the “birdcage” or box, and the elegant, thin ankles of the tripod base are all typical of stands made in Philadelphia in the second half of the 18th century.
