Description

The lyre-shaped support of this finely made card table marks it as an example of American federal furniture taking inspiration from classical antiquity for its decoration. When the top was folded closed, such tables were usually placed near a wall. Once the two halves of the top were unfolded, however, the entire upper portion of the table could be rotated until the supporting structure was again beneath the center and the enlarged surface was ready for play.

The table was probably made by Michael Bouvier, a French cabinetmaker who worked in Philadelphia and was the first paternal American ancestor of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.