PROBABLY PHILADELPHIA, 1710-1740

细节

A WILLIAM AND MARY WALNUT SPICE CHEST
Probably Philadelphia, 1710-1740
The rectangular top with molded edge above a conforming case fitted with two doors with beaded edge opening to reveal an interior fitted with ten graduated short drawers over a molded base, on bun-turned feet, appears to retain its original brasses
23½in. high, 21in. wide, 12in. deep

来源

Sotheby's New York, Important Americana: The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Henry P. Deyerle, May 26 and 27, 1995, lot 327

拍品专文

While typically called "spice boxes" during the period, inventories suggest that locking cabinets such as this early example were used for storing small valuables and keepsakes rather than specifically herbs and spices. The form was particularly popular in Pennsylvania, and a range of examples survive. Among them, this example is unusual for its double plank doors and the arrangement of its interior drawers. A related, plank-door spice box in the collection of the Chester County Historical Society has a similar arrangement, with two rows of three short drawers with one long drawer across the bottom (see Griffith, The Pennsylvania Spice Box (West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1986), cat. no. 5). The tear-drop brass drawer pulls on the present example are also in keeping with this related example. These pulls appear to be original to the chest, as do the turned, flattened ball feet, and as such are rare survivals.