Dr. William Samuel Johnson, the first president of Columbia University, had four daughters, all of whom died in early youth, from consumption. This embroidery was wrought by them, one taking the task as the other gave it up with her life. The same young girls embroidered the screen in Illustration [328]. Small wonder they died young! Far better the golf and tennis which would occupy the daughters of a modern college president, if he were so fortunate as to have four.
Illus. 253.—Chippendale Card-table, about 1765.
The frame of this table is very beautiful, though it is cast in the shade by the extraordinary needlework. It is after the finest Chippendale design, and of the best workmanship. The wood is mahogany, and the table is owned by Mrs. Johnson-Hudson of Stratford, Connecticut.
Illus. 254.—Chippendale Card-table, about 1765.
A Chippendale card-table, owned by the writer, is shown in Illustration [254]. The mahogany top is shaped in deep curves, with square corners and is an inch thick to allow the depth of the pools for counters. The lower edge of the table is gadrooned, and the two front legs are finely carved. The two back legs, which are stationary, are carved on the front side only, while the fifth leg, which swings under the leaf to hold it up, is plain, with simply the claw-and-ball foot.
Illus. 255.—Chippendale Card-table, about 1765.
Illustration [255] shows another Chippendale table with a baize-covered top. It has the pools for counters, and the corners of the top are shaped in square pieces to stand the candlesticks upon.