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拍品專文
This dressing table, along with its matching high-chest (fig. 1) in the collections of the Winterthur Museum, and another dressing table in a private collection, is part of a small and unusual group of Philadelphia furniture. The example in the private collection, photographed and researched by the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), has nearly identical fluted and chamfered corners ending in a cusp, foliate-carved knees with stippled ground, shaped skirt, and tightly carved shell with the rare protruding central element. The only stylistic difference between the two dressing tables is the foliage issuing from the shell: in the privately owned example, it is more extravagant, extending to the sides of the drawer rather than limiting itself to the bottom. However, the MESDA files state that the acanthus on the drawer front is possibly replaced.
Until recently, questions have arisen as to whether these pieces of furniture were indeed made in Philadelphia or whether they originated in Baltimore. In his articles "A Problem of Identification: Philadelphia and Baltimore Furniture Styles in the Eighteenth Century" (MESDA Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, May 1986) and "An Identity Crisis: Philadelphia and Baltimore Styles of the Mid Eighteenth Century (Shaping a National Culture: The Philadelphia Experience, 1750-80), Luke Beckerdite decidedly attributes the Winterthur high chest and the privately held dressing table recorded at MESDA to Philadelphia. Intermarriage and the immigration of cabinetmakers from Philadelphia to Baltimore and other areas of Maryland led to the dissemination of the Philadelphia aesthetic. As such, the chamfered corners and the carved ornamentation seen on this group of Philadelphia-made furniture are also found on Maryland pieces. Gerrard Hopkins (1742-1800), John Janvier (1777-1850), and Robert Moore (1723-1787) are some of the known artists who trained or worked in Philadelphia prior to establishing shops in Maryland, bringing with them traditions that would eventually lead to a confusion of attributions.
Another Chippendale walnut desk and bookcase with stylistic paralles to the current lot is illustrated in Israel Sack's 1950 Fine Points of Furniture (p. 165). A carved shell with protruding central element issuing acanthus leaves adorns the top of the upper case. Luke Beckerdite attributes this piece to the Philadelphia shop of Samuel Harding (d. 1758) based on Harding's work at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) between 1753-1757, which included garlands, finials, and leaf and floral appliques (Beckerdite, "An Identity Crisis," pp. 260-261).
Until recently, questions have arisen as to whether these pieces of furniture were indeed made in Philadelphia or whether they originated in Baltimore. In his articles "A Problem of Identification: Philadelphia and Baltimore Furniture Styles in the Eighteenth Century" (MESDA Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, May 1986) and "An Identity Crisis: Philadelphia and Baltimore Styles of the Mid Eighteenth Century (Shaping a National Culture: The Philadelphia Experience, 1750-80), Luke Beckerdite decidedly attributes the Winterthur high chest and the privately held dressing table recorded at MESDA to Philadelphia. Intermarriage and the immigration of cabinetmakers from Philadelphia to Baltimore and other areas of Maryland led to the dissemination of the Philadelphia aesthetic. As such, the chamfered corners and the carved ornamentation seen on this group of Philadelphia-made furniture are also found on Maryland pieces. Gerrard Hopkins (1742-1800), John Janvier (1777-1850), and Robert Moore (1723-1787) are some of the known artists who trained or worked in Philadelphia prior to establishing shops in Maryland, bringing with them traditions that would eventually lead to a confusion of attributions.
Another Chippendale walnut desk and bookcase with stylistic paralles to the current lot is illustrated in Israel Sack's 1950 Fine Points of Furniture (p. 165). A carved shell with protruding central element issuing acanthus leaves adorns the top of the upper case. Luke Beckerdite attributes this piece to the Philadelphia shop of Samuel Harding (d. 1758) based on Harding's work at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) between 1753-1757, which included garlands, finials, and leaf and floral appliques (Beckerdite, "An Identity Crisis," pp. 260-261).