FURNITURE 

Mahogany, sweet gum, yellow poplar and eastern white pine, 1749-63
AIHA Collection: Gift of the heirs of Major-General John Tayler Cooper

Originally a possession of Sir William Johnson (1715-1774), entrepreneur, politician and British superintendent of Indian Affairs for North America on New York's western frontier, this great oval-topped, gate-legged table is an acknowledged masterpiece of New York early-baroque or William and Mary-style table design. 

The table is listed in Sir William's estate inventory of 1774 in one of Johnson Hall's two first-floor parlors as "1 Large Oval Mahogany Table" valued at four pounds. After Sir William's death, the table acquired a colorful history of its own that befits its famous first owner. It was inherited by Sir William's son, Sir John Johnson (1742-1830), but was confiscated by the state of New York which labeled him a Tory after he fled to Canada in 1776. Traditional history holds that the table was purchased at one of several sales of his possessions by John Tayler (1742-1829), later Governor of New York, and then passed down for three generations in Tayler's family until it was donated to the Albany Historical and Art Society (antecedent of AIHA) in 1899.