Lot Essay
With its rounded block-front and shaped bracket feet, this chest of drawers is an outstanding example of the sophisticated craftsmanship of Boston furniture makers of the 18th century. The use of blocking the facade of case pieces, seen rarely in English 18th century furniture, became popular in Boston in the first half of the 18th century. Cabinetmakers used two forms of blocking on case peices. The more commonly seen blocking is the square block front which was generally employed for larger case pieces. More unusual, is the rounded block front seen in the chest-of-drawers here.
A similar chest in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is illustrated in Morrison Heckscher's American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985) pp.215-216, fig. 136. Another example attributed to Benjamin Frothingham and in the collection of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, is illustrated in Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye's, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984) pp.138-142.
A similar chest in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is illustrated in Morrison Heckscher's American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985) pp.215-216, fig. 136. Another example attributed to Benjamin Frothingham and in the collection of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, is illustrated in Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye's, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984) pp.138-142.