Lot Essay
With broad proportions, a flat-top, use of maple and short plain cabriole legs, this high chest exemplifies New Hampshire craftsmanship of the late eighteenth century. The chest's backboards contain the initials and date, "HF 1790," painted in a large script. Very similar lettering appears on the back of at least two other case pieces. One, a chest on frame, has the initials "WT" and date "1776" and the other, a desk, has the initials "WA" and date "1781" (see Winterthur Library, the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection, no. 81.1587 and American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection, vol. 7, p.1774, fig.P5021). The variations in the last initials indicate that they refer to the chests' various owners, but the similarities in the lettering indicate they were painted by the same hand, perhaps the chests' maker. For related high chests, see Sotheby's New York, 19 October, 1996, lot 331 and Philip H. Bradley, Co. advertisement, Antiques (March 1997), p.370.