The most popular type of tea table apparently was the circular tripod; that is, a circular top supported on a pillar with three feet. This kind of table is seen again and again in the prints and paintings (figs. 1, 2, 9, 14), and is listed in the inventories of the period. These tables, usually of walnut or mahogany, had stationary or tilt tops with plain, scalloped, or carved edges. Square or round, tripod or four-legged, the tables were usually placed against the wall of the room until teatime when, in the words of Ferdinand Bayard, "a mahogany table is brought forward and placed in front of the lady who pours the tea."[41] This practice is depicted in a number of 18th-century pictures, with the tea table well out in the room, often in front of a fireplace, and with seated and standing figures at or near the table (fig. 1). Evidence of such furniture placement in American parlors is recorded in a sketch and note Nancy Shippen received from one of her beaus, who wrote in part:[42] ... this evening I passed before Your house and seeing Company in the parlour I peep'd through the Window and saw a considerable Tea Company, of which by their situation I could only distinguish four persons. You will see the plan of this Company upon the next page. [Illustration: Figure 8.--A sketch by Louis Guillaume Otto that was enclosed in a letter to Nancy Shippen of Philadelphia about 1780. The sketch indicates the placement of the furniture in the Shippen parlor and the location of the tea-party participants. The "Explication" accompanying the drawing reads in part: "_A._ Old D^r S^{hippen} sitting before the Chimney.... _B._ M^r L^{ee} walking up and down, speaking and laughing by intervalls.... _C._ Miss N^{ancy} [Shippen] before the tea table.... _D._ M^{rs} S^{hippen} lost in sweet meditations. _E. F. G._ Some strangers which the Spy [Mr. Otto] could not distinguish. _H._ Cyrus [the butler] standing in the middle of the room--half asleep. _I._ M^r O^{tto} standing before the window...." From Shippen Papers, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress.]