Lot Essay
Portsmouth, New Hampshire was a flourishing seaport community in the early 19th century with a thriving commercial economy grounded in mercantile pursuits. The town supported a number of skilled craftsmen capable of producing stunning and fashionable furniture for a demanding clientele. Apprenticed in furniture centers such as Salem, Massachusetts, and aware of imports into the town from other furniture centers, these cabinetmakers had the training and knowledge of fashionable furniture in the newest styles. Rooted in the forms and fashions of furniture from Massachusetts, cabinetmakers from Portsmouth created a unique visual language based on other traditions of a feel all their own.
This chest is among one of the most recognizable groups of veneered furniture made in Portsmouth in the Federal era. Characterized by their central drop panel, alternating panels of flame-birch veneer outlined in rosewood banding, ivory escutcheons, and high spurred French feet, these chests stand out as sparkling examples of creative expression.
Each of these chests is remarkably similar in construction techniques, linking them, perhaps to a single cabinet shop in Portsmouth. The underside of each drawer bottom and the back interior are not smoothed, but left with rough saw marks; the substrate of the drawer fronts are laminated; there is often the presence of a middle dust board; the rear elements are dovetailed to the rear foot; small blocks are glued around the underside of the case; the glue blocks for the feet are a single piece of shaped wood, often extending beyond the foot; the kerf marks of the dovetails for the drawers extend beyond the cockbeading.
None of the known chests-of-drawers in this particular incarnation are followed by documentation to an individual craftsman. There is one shop, however, that produced high style furniture with alternating panels of flame-birch veneer, high French bracket feet, and an example with a drop panel, for which two documented objects survive. The cabinet firm was that of Jonathan Judkins and William Senter. Records show that Judkins was in Portsmouth in 1806, followed two years later by Senter, at which time they first advertised their partnership. The duo remained in business together until the premature death of William Senter in 1826.
The documented furniture in this fashion, linked to Judkins and Senter includes a desk with alternating veneered birch and mahogany front with ivory escutcheons sold to David Preble in 1812, for $23 (Plain and Elegant, Rich and Common: Documented New Hampshire Furniture, (Concord, NH, 1978), fig. 6, and a drop-panel secretary-and-bookcase originally purchased in 1813 by Jacob Wendell for the then staggering fee of $50.00 (Jobe, ed., Portsmith Furniture, (Boston, 1993), fig. 33). There are particular features associated with the construction details of this firm that are also very consistent. These include rough saw marks on the underside of the drawer bottoms; a central full dustboard; a cut strip glued to the underside of each drawer along the side; three-quarters of the dovetail and saw kerfs are exposed beyond the cockbeading; the rear elements are rabbeted and nailed to the rear feet; a row of small blocks are glued to the underside of the case; the glue blocks for the feet are a single piece of shaped wood.
Although the construction details do not match up in every instance, there are enough similarities to suggest that there is certainly a link between the shop traditions of Judkins and Senter and the group of chests such as this stylish example seen here.
Several nearly identical chests are owned by public institutions: there is a chest in the Rudlet-May house of Portsmouth illustrated in Jobe, fig. ; an example is at the Old York Historical Society, York, Maine and illustrated in, Laura F. Sprague, Agreeable Situations, (Kennebunk, Maine, 1987), no. 98; see David Warren, Bayou Bend, (Boston, 1975), no. 165 for an example at the Bayou Bend collection in Houston, Texas; a chest is also in the collection of the Henry Ford Museum, Deerborn, Michigan.
This chest is among one of the most recognizable groups of veneered furniture made in Portsmouth in the Federal era. Characterized by their central drop panel, alternating panels of flame-birch veneer outlined in rosewood banding, ivory escutcheons, and high spurred French feet, these chests stand out as sparkling examples of creative expression.
Each of these chests is remarkably similar in construction techniques, linking them, perhaps to a single cabinet shop in Portsmouth. The underside of each drawer bottom and the back interior are not smoothed, but left with rough saw marks; the substrate of the drawer fronts are laminated; there is often the presence of a middle dust board; the rear elements are dovetailed to the rear foot; small blocks are glued around the underside of the case; the glue blocks for the feet are a single piece of shaped wood, often extending beyond the foot; the kerf marks of the dovetails for the drawers extend beyond the cockbeading.
None of the known chests-of-drawers in this particular incarnation are followed by documentation to an individual craftsman. There is one shop, however, that produced high style furniture with alternating panels of flame-birch veneer, high French bracket feet, and an example with a drop panel, for which two documented objects survive. The cabinet firm was that of Jonathan Judkins and William Senter. Records show that Judkins was in Portsmouth in 1806, followed two years later by Senter, at which time they first advertised their partnership. The duo remained in business together until the premature death of William Senter in 1826.
The documented furniture in this fashion, linked to Judkins and Senter includes a desk with alternating veneered birch and mahogany front with ivory escutcheons sold to David Preble in 1812, for $23 (Plain and Elegant, Rich and Common: Documented New Hampshire Furniture, (Concord, NH, 1978), fig. 6, and a drop-panel secretary-and-bookcase originally purchased in 1813 by Jacob Wendell for the then staggering fee of $50.00 (Jobe, ed., Portsmith Furniture, (Boston, 1993), fig. 33). There are particular features associated with the construction details of this firm that are also very consistent. These include rough saw marks on the underside of the drawer bottoms; a central full dustboard; a cut strip glued to the underside of each drawer along the side; three-quarters of the dovetail and saw kerfs are exposed beyond the cockbeading; the rear elements are rabbeted and nailed to the rear feet; a row of small blocks are glued to the underside of the case; the glue blocks for the feet are a single piece of shaped wood.
Although the construction details do not match up in every instance, there are enough similarities to suggest that there is certainly a link between the shop traditions of Judkins and Senter and the group of chests such as this stylish example seen here.
Several nearly identical chests are owned by public institutions: there is a chest in the Rudlet-May house of Portsmouth illustrated in Jobe, fig. ; an example is at the Old York Historical Society, York, Maine and illustrated in, Laura F. Sprague, Agreeable Situations, (Kennebunk, Maine, 1987), no. 98; see David Warren, Bayou Bend, (Boston, 1975), no. 165 for an example at the Bayou Bend collection in Houston, Texas; a chest is also in the collection of the Henry Ford Museum, Deerborn, Michigan.