This is a grand sized tea table, probably a third bigger than the usual, and is a masterpiece. Very rarely in American furniture do we see large shells like these on a tea table. When you do, they’re usually English/Irish. The top is beautifully scooped out from the solid, and the apron has an interesting open fretwork that lightens its mass. The legs have beautiful outlining at the edge and along the blockwork (at the corners of each leg) which runs completely down through the end of the slipper.
The decoratively pierced apron is a particularly rare feature in American furniture, but it does exist in some documented Connecticut examples. (Please see below for a scan from Arts of the Federal Period, showing a Lichfield, CT Card table with a similarly pierced apron.)
This is a very individualistic piece which came out of the Holzer estate, who acquired it out of the collection of Newport pioneer Cornelius C. Moore who was mayor and quite involved in early Rhode Island politics.
Height: 28 in. Width: 37 1/2 in. Depth: 26 1/2 in.