As Leslie and I have learned from experience, you never know where you'll find a great piece. Nine years ago, I was visiting down in New Orleans, drinking mint juleps in the living room of a grand old home. It was hot. New Orleans was hot. The shades were all drawn to keep out the sun, and the ceiling fan swooshed to beat off the heat. In a dark corner of the large Federal-style room I could make out a fine-looking tea table that stood out from the other antiques in the room.

Nine years later, an acquaintance phoned up to offer a furniture collection "from an old New Orleans family." When I went to investigate, I couldn't believe it; there was the very same table I'd seen in New Orleans - a mahogany tilt-top tea table from around 1770 - a classic Philadelphia piece in the Queen Anne style. A real gem. I wasn't going to let it get away.

A POPULAR STYLE
This particular table is a great example of a popular type. When tea drinking caught on in England in the early 1700s, it didn't take long for the Colonial gentry to adopt the new custom, along with the teapots and tables that were part of the ritual. Tea tables - round, square, with tops that tilt or not - became all the rage, and furniture makers scrambled to meet the demand. Philadelphia produced some of the finest, but tea tables were made in other places as well, notably Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

The round top on this table both tilts and turns. It is attached to two wooden cleats, connected to a wooden "bird-cage" device that turns freely on the columnar base. By means of this mechanism the top turns, so the host can pour, rotate the table, and serve guests, and it also tilts up, so the table can be stored against the wall to take up less space when it isn't being used. Ingenious. Not all tea tables tilt and turn but this dual function is quite common on Philadelphia tables of the period.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR
VALUE Prices for similar antique tea tables start at $2,000. Condition, carving, and the proportions of the piece all play a part in determining value. These tables were expensive when new, and anything that added work added cost. Carving on the legs and feet, a carved "scallop'd" edge on the top, or a fluted column will also add value today. Tables with carved ball-and-claw feet - a hallmark of the Chippendale style - are generally worth more than those with plain "pad" feet, like the Queen Anne-style table shown here. A ball-and-claw foot is much more desirable for today's collector.

PLEASING LINES AND PROPORTIONS
All the parts need to work in harmony to create a unified and balanced whole, as Leslie points out. Look for an aesthetically pleasing balance between the proportion of the top and the base. A table can have a beautiful top but a clunky column and base. The table shown here has a well-proportioned column on a "compressed ball base" - a common design for Philadelphia tea tables.

Leslie says I have a good eye for legs. They need to be the right length and have a perfect S-shaped line. The best ones have this energy about them. You get the feeling that the three legs are muscularly supporting the top above them. The transition between the leg and the foot should be slender and graceful.

CONDITION
As with any antique, condition counts for a lot. A piece that's intact, with all parts, is worth more than a similar one with pieces that are missing or have been replaced. A refinished piece is also worth less than a piece with even part of its original finish (usually shellac) remaining.

In today's homes, Leslie and I often see a tea table - antique or reproduction - used nicely as an end table, side table, or a stand for a lamp. Of course, it's also ideal for its original function - just enough room for two or three friends to sit back and enjoy a nice cup of tea (or perhaps something with a bit more kick).

THE PHILADELPHIA CONNECTION
Some of the finest American furniture was made in Philadelphia. In the second half of the 18th century, this port city was a center of commerce, government, and culture, with a wealthy aristocracy keen to keep up with the latest new styles from across the Atlantic. To meet this demand, joiners, carvers, finishers, turners, and upholsterers - many of whom learned their trade in England - set up their shops. Working from popular pattern books such as London-based cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale's, The Gentleman & Cabinet-maker's Directory (published in 1754), they supplied the Colonial gentry with the fine high-style furniture that's still prized by collectors today.