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THBThe James Atkinson Chippendale Carved Mahogany Tea Table
About Seller
20 Beach Street
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
United States
At Nye & Company, what you like is all you need to know. Knowledgeable, helpful staff members, as well as nationally-known experts, work together to find the antiques and collectibles that will become your children’s heirlooms, all within your budget. John and Kathleen Nye acquired Dawson’s after hi...Read more
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About Auction
LiveJan 22, 2026
American Spirit: Celebrating 250 Years of Freedom, Independence and Craftsmanship brings together a thoughtful selection of American furniture, art, and decorative objects. Spanning centuries of design and tradition, this auction reflects the enduring creativity and skill of American makers. Join us on January 22, 2026, for a sale that honors history, artistry, and the spirit of craftsmanship. Nye & Co. info@nyeandcompany.com
View Full Catalog (346)
- Lot Description
The James Atkinson Chippendale Carved Mahogany Tea Table
Documented to John Goddard (1724-1785), Newport, 1773. Together with original bill of sale dated December 9, 1773:
1773
James Atkinson to John Goddard Dt
9 10th: Mo
To a Mahogony Dineing Table 4 Feet £4 - 4
To Do Fly Tea Table 3 -
To 6 Black Birch Chairs 4 - 10
£10 - 14
Newport ye 19th of ye 1st Mo. 1774
Errors Excepted [?] John Goddard
The reverse inscribed:
The William Acct Cr.
By Sundry Shoes of George Tennent [?] Recd: £4 - 0 -7 1/2
By Do of William Pryor 1 - 7--
By Do of Jeremiah Phillips 6 - 6 - 4 1/2
£11 - 14
Newport ye 22d of ye 3d Mo . 1774
John Goddard
Provenance:
James Atkinson (before 1722-1806), Newport, Rhode Island
Probable line of descent:
Captain John Botkin Atkinson (1776-1847), son
James Atkinson (1804-1879), son
Louisa F. Atkinson (1840-after 1930), daughter
George E. Vernon, Newport, 1930
Mr. and Mrs. John Nicholas Brown, Providence, 1936
Thence by descent in the family
Sotheby's, 20 January 2005, New York, lot 1202
Private CollectionExhibition:
The Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island 1640-1820, Nichols-Wanton-Hunter House, Preservation Society of
Newport County, Newport, Rhode Island, summer 1953;
The Nightingale-Brown House, site of The John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization,
Brown University, Newport, Rhode Island, 1985 to 2004
Literature:
Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., 'The Newport Exhibition,' The Magazine Antiques (July 1953), p. 40, figs. 8, 9.
Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., The Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island 1640-1820 (Newport, 1954), p. 107, no. 79.
Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport : The Townsends and Goddards (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1984), pp. 199, 208, 210, figs. 4.7, 5.3.
Patricia E. Kane, 'The Palladian Style in Rhode Island Furniture: Fly Tea Tables,' American Furniture 1999, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1999), pp. 2-3, figs. 1-2.
Amy Coes, 'A Bill of Sale from John Goddard to John Brown and the Furniture It Documents,' The Magazine Antiques (May 2006), p. 133, no. 29.
The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF1029.
Exhibited:
Newport, The Hunter House, The Preservation Society of Newport County, The Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island, 1640-1820, Summer 1953.
Providence, Rhode Island, The Nightingale-Brown House, site of the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization, Brown University, 1985 to 2004.
Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
With Special thanks to Christie's, Martha Willoughby and Amy Coes for their research. Please see catalogue entry "Documented to the acclaimed craftsman John Goddard (1723-1785), this tea table is the most significant example of the form to survive from eighteenth-century Newport and stands as a Rosetta stone for the attribution of other tripod-base forms to his shop. Furthermore, it is one of only approximately ten forms that can be assuredly ascribed to the cabinetmaker. These works include three slant-front desks bearing Goddard’s signature or label, and commissions documented by letters or bills for sale for Anthony Low, John Brown, Jabez Bowen, and, as seen here, James Atkinson. As detailed in the accompanying bill of sale, John Goddard charged James Atkinson (1734-1806) a total of £11 14 shillings for this table, another dining table and six chairs on December 9th, 1773. The additional date of March 9th, 1774 probably indicates the time at which the account was settled. In September of 1773, Atkinson had married Mary Boutin (Bontin, Botkin) (1747-1799) in Newport and Goddard’s furnishings were undoubtedly ordered to meet the demands of married life. Little is known of Atkinson’s life, but upon his death, he was noted to have been “a native of Ireland†(Herald of the United States (Warren, Rhode Island), August 9, 1806, p. 3).
For over a hundred and fifty years, the table remained in Newport in the Atkinson family and by the early twentieth century, was owned by Atkinson’s great-granddaughter, Louisa F. Atkinson (1840-after 1930). In 1930, she sold the table to a local antiques dealer, George E. Vernon and, affirming its history, signed an affidavit reading, 'This will certify that the black birch chair and mahogany tea table together for the bill of sale for same signed by John Goddard were purchased from me and have always been the property of my family' (affidavit dated April 15, 1930, Brown family archives, Nightingale-Brown House; cited in Kane, fn. 1, p. 13). The table had most likely descended along the male lines to Captain John Botkin Atkinson (1776-1847) and James Atkinson (1804-1879), Louisa’s grandfather and father respectively. Her father was a prominent printer and newspaper owner who later entered politics and served as Newport’s mayor from 1869 to 1873. As indicated by census records, Louisa was born in 1840, resided in Newport until the late nineteenth century and by 1900 had moved to nearby Jamestown, where she is last recorded as a taxpayer in 1921. George E. Vernon sold the table to John Nicholas Brown (1900-1979) of the renowned Providence family in 1936 (bill of sale dated May 1, 1936, Brown family archives, Nightingale-Brown House). Aside from its display in Ralph E. Carpenter’s pioneering exhibition of Newport furniture in 1953, the table stood from 1930 to 2004 in the Nightingale-Brown house in Providence, the Brown family’s ancestral home and now the site of The John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization".
26 1/4 x 33 x 32 1/2 in. (66.7 x 83.8 x 82.6 cm.)Condition
Condition reports are not provided in catalog descriptions. The absence of a condition report does not guarantee that the lot is in good condition or free from damage and wear. We encourage you to request a condition report and/or additional photos prior to bidding on any lot. We also recommend asking for a shipping quote before bidding.
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