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Lot Essay
With its distinctive central pendant bellflowers and string inlay that sweeps below the keyhole surrounds, this chest-of-drawers closely resembles several other examples attributed to the Weymouth, Massachusetts cabinetmaker, Abiel White (1766-1844). Details in the construction of the chest offered here, such as the top joined with sliding dovetails and the use of a multitude of small glueblocks, illustrate White's known practices and confirm that it was made in his shop, which thrived in the early nineteenth century. White is also known for his diminutive tall-case clock cases, an example of which is lot 1278 in this sale. For more on White, see Jack O'Brien and Derin Bray, "Shaped by the Sea: Cabinetmaking in Southeaster Massachusetts," and Derin Bray, catalogue entry, in Brock Jobe, Gary R. Sullivan and Jack O'Brien, Harbor & Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts 1710-1850 (Hanover, 2009), pp. 35-38, 190-192, cat. 65. For closely related examples, see Sotheby's New York, 18-19 January 2008, lot 299; Northeast Auctions, Manchester, NH, 25 October 2009, lot 434; Skinner, Marlborough, 15 August 2010, lot 720; Skinner, Boston, 19 November 2016, lot 264; The Bowdoin College Museum of Art, acc. no. 1962.32.