AFA Autumn 2019

Autumn 74 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com Gould was the most important furniture maker active in Salem during the mid-eighteenth century and this is an outstanding example of his considerable skills. It is the only known Salem tea table with a scalloped edge (most often associated with work from Philadelphia), ideal for keeping tea paraphernalia—cups, saucers, and plates from sliding off. The hinged top was designed to flip up so the table could be tucked into a corner of the room. In this position, the expensive, dense-grained mahogany and finely carved details announced the owner’s wealth and good taste. For more than a decade, Heade painted hummingbirds in their natural landscape in South and Central America. During his final trip to the tropics in 1871, he hit upon a dazzling new combination. He began a series of compositions in which he paired the small, colorful hummingbirds with sensuous orchids. These lush, jewel-like images captivated the American art market. Though he worked directly from nature, he often reused details. The orchid here appears in twenty-one of over fifty related works he produced. Shop of Nathaniel Gould (1758–1783), Stand table, Salem, Mass., 1761–1781. Mahogany and birch. H. 27½, Diam. 33¼ in. Carolyn and Peter Lynch Collection. Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904), Orchid and Hummingbirds near a Mountain Lake, ca. 1875–1890. Oil on canvas, 153⁄16 x 20½ inches. Carolyn and Peter Lynch Collection.