Lot Essay
The mystique, rural beauty and tradition that surrounds Hadley chests has captured collector's imagination and sense of intrigue since Henry Wood Erving first wrote of this regional specific form in 1883. Since then, Hadley chests have been the subject of numerous investigations driven by curiosity relating to their creators, owners, cultural purpose and decorative symbolism.
This chest-with-two-drawers is one of a group of chests with similar construction techniques and decorative elements that were made in the Hadley, Hatfield and Deerfield area of Massachusetts from the 1680s until the 1730s. The retention of motifs and means of manufacture over five decades stems from the isolation of rural Massachusetts, a strong network of kinship ties, and the patronage of the dominant, influential Pynchon family (Zea, 'The Fruits of Oligarchy,' Old Time New England 72 (Boston, 1987), pp. 1-65). Hadley chests from this group are characterized by a 'repetition of the Hadley motif on all the parts of the facade, the exclusive use of incised lines, the absence of crescent shaped gouges...and the assembly of the ends with two vertical panels' (Kane, 'The 17th Century Furniture from the Connecticut Valley: The Hadley Chest Re-Appraised,' Quimby, ed., Arts of the Anglo-American Community (Virginia, 1975), pp. 79-122). The chests are consistently made with riven stiles, bevelled rails around the panels, a two-board back with a rough mill-sawn lower board, drawer fronts that extend beyond the drawer sides and act as drawer stops, single dovetail side-hung drawers, and bottom boards which are nailed at the front and chamfered and set into the back (Zea, 'The Fruits of Oligarchy': Zea nd Flynt, Hadley Chests (Deerfield, 1992).
The decoration of this chest is its most striking and intriguing attribute, representing layers of meaning as well as presenting a visual dialogue of pattern and color. The use of paint as decoration is well documented in early architecture and furnishings. Exteriors and interiors were embellished with a medley of contrasting tones as were select objects within a house such as this chest which still retains much of its traditional varied palette. The Hadley tulip-and-vine motif which covers the front of this chest has its origins in the Elizabethan-Renaissance decorative traditions of the northern countries of England. The decorative symbolism of this stylized foliage is entrenched in the folk traditions of Europe where flowers and garlands are meant to represent fertility and the paired tulip and leaf panels to be trees of life. These decorative elements and their meanings were intended to 'ensure the fertility of their owners' whose initials or names were often carved on the central panel as on this chest (Greene, 'Fertility Symbols on the Hadley Chest,' The Magazine Antiques (August 1977):250-257). Costly expressions of status and of a woman's availability, these dower chests were primarily made for a young single women to announce a coming of age. Upon marriage, she would bring the chest with her to provide her and her husband the benefits of its symbolism; it remained her property throughout her life as one of her few personal possessions (Lasansky, A Good Start The Aussteier of Dowry (Pennsylvania, 1990).
A nearly identical two-drawer chest from Hadley with inverted heart, central mushroom motif and carved initials is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Luther, The Hadley Chest (Hartford, 1935), no. 92; see 93 for another example). One-drawer chests with the same format and carved initials are more numerous, see Luther, nos. 14, 26, 32, 59, 87. For two single-drawer chests from the same group with decorative serpentine incised lines on the drawer fronts as on this chest, see Luther, nos. 30, 66.
This chest-with-two-drawers is one of a group of chests with similar construction techniques and decorative elements that were made in the Hadley, Hatfield and Deerfield area of Massachusetts from the 1680s until the 1730s. The retention of motifs and means of manufacture over five decades stems from the isolation of rural Massachusetts, a strong network of kinship ties, and the patronage of the dominant, influential Pynchon family (Zea, 'The Fruits of Oligarchy,' Old Time New England 72 (Boston, 1987), pp. 1-65). Hadley chests from this group are characterized by a 'repetition of the Hadley motif on all the parts of the facade, the exclusive use of incised lines, the absence of crescent shaped gouges...and the assembly of the ends with two vertical panels' (Kane, 'The 17th Century Furniture from the Connecticut Valley: The Hadley Chest Re-Appraised,' Quimby, ed., Arts of the Anglo-American Community (Virginia, 1975), pp. 79-122). The chests are consistently made with riven stiles, bevelled rails around the panels, a two-board back with a rough mill-sawn lower board, drawer fronts that extend beyond the drawer sides and act as drawer stops, single dovetail side-hung drawers, and bottom boards which are nailed at the front and chamfered and set into the back (Zea, 'The Fruits of Oligarchy': Zea nd Flynt, Hadley Chests (Deerfield, 1992).
The decoration of this chest is its most striking and intriguing attribute, representing layers of meaning as well as presenting a visual dialogue of pattern and color. The use of paint as decoration is well documented in early architecture and furnishings. Exteriors and interiors were embellished with a medley of contrasting tones as were select objects within a house such as this chest which still retains much of its traditional varied palette. The Hadley tulip-and-vine motif which covers the front of this chest has its origins in the Elizabethan-Renaissance decorative traditions of the northern countries of England. The decorative symbolism of this stylized foliage is entrenched in the folk traditions of Europe where flowers and garlands are meant to represent fertility and the paired tulip and leaf panels to be trees of life. These decorative elements and their meanings were intended to 'ensure the fertility of their owners' whose initials or names were often carved on the central panel as on this chest (Greene, 'Fertility Symbols on the Hadley Chest,' The Magazine Antiques (August 1977):250-257). Costly expressions of status and of a woman's availability, these dower chests were primarily made for a young single women to announce a coming of age. Upon marriage, she would bring the chest with her to provide her and her husband the benefits of its symbolism; it remained her property throughout her life as one of her few personal possessions (Lasansky, A Good Start The Aussteier of Dowry (Pennsylvania, 1990).
A nearly identical two-drawer chest from Hadley with inverted heart, central mushroom motif and carved initials is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Luther, The Hadley Chest (Hartford, 1935), no. 92; see 93 for another example). One-drawer chests with the same format and carved initials are more numerous, see Luther, nos. 14, 26, 32, 59, 87. For two single-drawer chests from the same group with decorative serpentine incised lines on the drawer fronts as on this chest, see Luther, nos. 30, 66.