A CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY CHEST-OF-DRAWERS

Details

A CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY CHEST-OF-DRAWERS
NEW YORK, 1750-1775

The serpentine molded-edge top with canted corners above a conforming case fitted with a baize-covered brush slide over four cockbead-molded and graduated long drawers flanked by canted and fluted pilasters above a conforming base molding, on short acanthus-carved cabriole legs with ruffled and C-scroll-carved brackets and ball-and-claw feet, appears to retain original brasses--32in. high, 33 1/2in. wide, 16 1/2in. deep

Provenance

Israel Sack, Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Mitchel Taradash
Israel Sack, Inc.

Literature

James Biddle, American Art from American Collections (New York, 1963), p. 26, no. 49
Albert Sack, "Unique Masterpieces of American Furniture," Art and Auction, October, 1985, p. 191
American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection (Alexandria, Virginia, 1986), Vol. VIII, pp. 2272-2273

Exhibited

New York, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "American Art from American Collections," March 6 - April 28, 1963

Lot Essay

This chest-of-drawers exemplifies the heighth of London fashion as produced in pre-Revolutionary New York. Almost certainly it represents a large body of sophisticated cabinetry, lost for the most part due to the ravages of war, fire and time. One other similar serpentine chest with a Van Rensselaer history of ownership is in the Winterthur Museum collections and has most recently been illustrated and discussed in Morrision H. Heckscher and Leslie Greene Bowman, American Rococo, 1750-1770: Elegance in Ornament (New York, 1992), pp. 162-163, no. 111.

The C-scroll and ruffle carving on the foot brackets of the chest are reminiscent of the same motifs found on a set of chairs and a card table with Van Rensselaer family provenance. See, Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Late Colonial Period: The Queen Anne and Chippendale Styles (New York, 1985), pp. 28, 169, 170, nos. 28, 102.