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Lot Essay
As described in several owners' labels, the provenance of this sideboard is well documented from its first to current owners. The Hon. Thomas Rice (1768-1754) was born in Pownalborough (now Winslow), Maine, named after his father. In 1791, he graduated from Harvard College and a few years later, moved to Wiscasset where he embarked on a successful career in law and politics. For more on Rice and his descendants, see Mary Kingsbury Talcott, ed., The Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury (Hartford, 1905), p. 98; Rev. Addison Kingsbury, The Pendulous Edition of Kingsbury Genealogy (Pittsburgh, 1901), p. 103.
The sideboard exhibits features clearly influenced by the practices of Boston, the regional style center of northern New England. These include the use of a top with ovolo corners and tambour cupboard doors. Having studied in Boston, Thomas Rice would have been familiar with the city's fashions. However, details such as the continuation of the tambour past the hinges, and the idiosyncratic bellflower inlay suggest the work of a rural cabinetmaker. It is possible that the sideboard was made in the vicinity of Rice's hometown, Wiscasset, perhaps in Portland or Augusta.
The sideboard exhibits features clearly influenced by the practices of Boston, the regional style center of northern New England. These include the use of a top with ovolo corners and tambour cupboard doors. Having studied in Boston, Thomas Rice would have been familiar with the city's fashions. However, details such as the continuation of the tambour past the hinges, and the idiosyncratic bellflower inlay suggest the work of a rural cabinetmaker. It is possible that the sideboard was made in the vicinity of Rice's hometown, Wiscasset, perhaps in Portland or Augusta.