ATTRIBUTED TO THE SHOP OF BENJAMIN FROTHINGHAM (1734-1809), CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, 1750-1770

Gracefully proportioned with an airy vertical stature this high chest of drawers stands as an excellent example of the form and can be attributed to the shop of Benjamin Frothingham, Jr.(1734-1809). Comparisons with signed or labeled furniture by the renowned cabinetmaker of Charlestown, reveal close parallels in terms of design and construction features. The use of three flat arches along the apron and the elegantly upswept short drawers in the upper section of the bonnet relate closely to the signed example illustrated in Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods, (Winterthur, Delaware, 1997), pp. 313-316, cat. 162. Additionally, the use of applied strips of wood which run down the front edges of the upper case to conceal the dovetails of the drawer blades are seen on the aforementioned example, as well as several other Frothingham attributed pieces. Further comparisons can be seen in the way the drawers have been constructed. Similar to the Winterthur example, the present lot has drawer sides with rounded tops, drawer bottoms set with the grain running from front to back, which are fitted in rabbets in the front and sides and nailed at the backs. The presence of these several commonalities helps to pinpoint this attribution to Frothingham's workshop rather than greater Boston style.