Chocolate for My
Lady
QUESTION:
 I
purchased a reproduction "chocolate table" at an antique store
in Savannah, Ga.. I thought it was unique and well suited to a
particular area of my home. I've had it for about two years and am
curious about it's origins. The store said she had never seen an
original, and the ones she had heard about were astronomically
expensive. It is oval, with glass sides framed in wood. It has a door on
each side, with which to gain entrance to the interior. The top has a
removable serving tray. What information can you give me about my little
table?
Tammy Schmidt
_______________________________________________________
ANSWER:
 What
Tammy has is formally called a chocolate display table. According to Fay
Spencer, one of the owners of Spencer's Antiques of Waynesville, Ohio,
it was also called a tea table. Most have a tray as the top of the
table, which can be removed to serve beverages to guests. These were
popular in the southern United States around the early to mid-19th Century. Spencer also noted that in
pre-Revolutionary War days it was common to serve hot chocolate
instead of tea, to avoid supporting the British Government's tax laws.
So that's probably why the term chocolate table and tea table are
interchangeable.
Most likely the cabinet had been used to store tea or
hot chocolate related serving items, such as cups and saucers, small
plates for cakes, spoons, etc. Tables came in different shapes, from
round to half-round, oval, and even square. The oval tables often had
two doors, one on either side or at each end. Tammy's
particular model was most likely similar to this one, made in Indonesia
by Furniture World. The one
owned by Spencer Antiques
is a half-round model made of mahogany with beveled glass and priced at
$225.
If anyone knows
anything more about this type of table, please send an E-mail
with your comments. <
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