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Lot Essay
This exceptional pipe box is among the most refined examples to survive from colonial Newport. While the form was made in some quantity, few have survived. This example descended in the Robinson and Wanton families, and was used in the Thomas Robinson House. It may have originally been purchased by Robinson from cabinetmaker Job Townsend. Robinson was a regular patron at Townsend's shop, and while Townsend's surviving account books do not record a pipe box purchase by Robinson, Townsend made at least eight examples of the form in the years 1750-1773. Robinson's probate inventory, executed shortly after his death in 1817, notes one pipe box in his estate- perhaps the example offered here. Robinson was also personal friends with John Goddard, and it could have come from his shop as well.
Another possibility is that this pipe box descended from Philip Wanton, Jr. (1719-1779), a merchant and apothecary in Newport, and also a known patron of Job Townsend. Philip Jr. was the son of Philip, Sr. (born Scituate, 1686-Newport, 1735), who was the son Edward Wanton (1629-1716) of Scituate (see lot 544). Among the many transactions between Philip Wanton Jr. and Job Townsend, recorded in the latter's ledgers and day books is Wanton's purchase of a pipe box on February 24, 1753, for which he was charged 3 pounds 10 shillings. He paid for his purchase with 350 feet of maple boards (see Willoughby, "The Accounts of Job Townsend, Jr." in Beckerdite, ed., American Furniture (Chipstone Foundation, 1999) p. 121.
A related example, also attributed to Newport, is illustrated in Israel Sack, American Furniture from the Israel Sack Collection vol. 5, p. 1300, fig. P4279. A brief comparison of published examples suggests that this pipe box is a masterful example, perhaps without equal among known American pipe boxes.
Another possibility is that this pipe box descended from Philip Wanton, Jr. (1719-1779), a merchant and apothecary in Newport, and also a known patron of Job Townsend. Philip Jr. was the son of Philip, Sr. (born Scituate, 1686-Newport, 1735), who was the son Edward Wanton (1629-1716) of Scituate (see lot 544). Among the many transactions between Philip Wanton Jr. and Job Townsend, recorded in the latter's ledgers and day books is Wanton's purchase of a pipe box on February 24, 1753, for which he was charged 3 pounds 10 shillings. He paid for his purchase with 350 feet of maple boards (see Willoughby, "The Accounts of Job Townsend, Jr." in Beckerdite, ed., American Furniture (Chipstone Foundation, 1999) p. 121.
A related example, also attributed to Newport, is illustrated in Israel Sack, American Furniture from the Israel Sack Collection vol. 5, p. 1300, fig. P4279. A brief comparison of published examples suggests that this pipe box is a masterful example, perhaps without equal among known American pipe boxes.