A PAIR OF FEDERAL BURL WALNUT AND TIGER MAPLE VENEERED KNIFE URNS PROBABLY PHILADELPHIA, 1800-1810

Details

A PAIR OF FEDERAL BURL WALNUT AND TIGER MAPLE VENEERED KNIFE URNS PROBABLY PHILADELPHIA, 1800-1810

The squared domed top with veneered panels divided by patterned stringing with acorn finials sliding above a central support opening to a stepped concentric interior with reserves above a conforming contrast veneered case, on a turned pedestal and square base with inset rounded corners--28in. high
(2)

Provenance

Descended in the family of Edward Shippen-Burd, Ormiston, Philadelphia
As footnote: Sold in these rooms October 15, 1983, lot 618

Lot Essay

Urn-shaped knife boxes with dome tops and extendable shafts are based on Eighteenth century English examples. George Hepplewhite's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide includes four designs for related "knife cases" (Plate 39, 1794). The use of eastern white pine (pinus strobus) appears on a signed pair of knife boxes by David Sackriter (1780-1849) Philadelphia. See Charles C. Venable American Furniture in the Bybee Collection (Austin, 1989) pp. 98-99.