Card Table

This Portsmouth-made card table is one of a pair James Rundlet purchased to furnish his parlor. Tables like these were often purchased in pairs. When they were placed against opposite walls, they served a decorative function, creating the all-important symmetry that the neoclassical style dictated. Card tables filled multiple roles, but their primary function was for card playing, a popular activity that cut across gender, region, and class. Tables like this one were most often used for games requiring four players, like whist and quadrille.