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Lot Essay
Combining regional ingenuity and urban design, this stately desk is a masterpiece of eighteenth-century Connecticut furniture. Its block-and-shell form is clearly inspired by the famous works of the Townsend-Goddard school from Newport, Rhode Island yet its quality of carving, fastiduous construction, blocked ogee bracket feet and beaded and scrolled knee returns indicate the work of a highly skilled cabinetmaker working in Norwich, Connecticut. Located on the Thames River in New London County, Norwich was easily accessible to Newport and second only to New Haven was the region's commercial center. Through the transportation of goods and movement of woodworkers, the distinct style and quality of craftsmanship of Newport's cabinetmakers reached and influenced their fellow tradesmen in eastern Connecticut. Closely allied with Colchester work, this Norwich School, however, was not dependent on Newport for stylistic innovation. With wavy lobed shells, pendant curlicues, elaborate skirts and knee returns, block-and-shell furniture from New London County exhibits a number of variations on the classic Newport form and stands as one of the most expressive groups of colonial New England furniture.
This desk is one of a small number of surviving examples known block-and-shell casepieces from Norwich. It is almost identical to a desk in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 1) and together, the two represent the work of the same master craftsmen working in the late eighteenth century. Both share the same form and size and share details such as shell carvings with fifteen convex lobes with scooped petal interiors, drawer construction with dovetail keys forming nearly equilateral triangles and blocked feet with beaded and double-scrolled knee returns. They differ only in their interiors. The desk offered here has a straight-fronted bank of pigeonholes and short drawers with a detachable fan-carved prospect door. The interior of the desk at the Art Institute varies with a serpentine-shaped bank of small drawers made of zebrawood centered by a prospect door embellished with a smaller version of the concave shell on the lid's facade. While sharing characteristics with the other Norwich examples, they are distinguished by their use of mahogany rather than cherry as the primary wood and their large shells with fifteen rather than the more standard eleven convex lobes (For other Norwich block-and-shell examples, see Myers and Mayhew, New London County Furniture 1640-1840 (Lyman Allyn Museum, 1974), cats. 47, 48 and 58; and Ward, American Case Furniture from the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, 1988), cat. 160; Frederick K. and Margaret R. Barbour's Furniture Collection (The Connecticut Historical Society, 1963), pp. 39, 41, 43; American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. V, p. 1315, P4374).
A prominent Norwich cabinetmaker of the time, Felix Huntington (1749-1822) stands as a likely maker of both desks. Extensive research into the ancestors of the couple who inherited this desk in the early twentieth century reveals three lines with eigthteenth-century origins in New London County. One of these is John Chester (1749-1809) and Elizabeth Huntington (1757-1834) who married in 1773. While she was born in Norwich and was a distant cousin of Felix's, a letter written in 1782 indicates that her husband ordered chairs from Felix Huntington and was considering purchasing some of his more costly furniture. Writing from Wethersfield to a Joshua Huntington, John Chester states:
"Was in hopes to have procured those articles at least some cheaper. They still appear to me to be very unreasonably high considering the scarcity of hard cash. The Chairs we will have, but for the other articles it will not make material difference whether we answer you now or by next opportunity which cannot be long first. If we can procure them Cheaper we shall, and I think we can unless Mahogany is much dearer than I am aware. [Felix] Huntington has rather raised the price of Bureaus. I understood you he asked #7 for one swell'd and trimmed. #6 is certainly higher for a plain one without trimming. You shall here more from me soon on this business."
--cited in Bulkley, "Connecticut Cabinetmakers, Part I," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin (October 1967), p. 135.
While he later received a bill from Felix Huntington, it is not known whether it included any case pieces or if Chester found "cheaper" examples elsewhere. The mention of mahogany and bureaus as well as a possible reference-swell'd-to a blockfront facade certainly fits the description of the desk offered here. At the very least, the letter shows that Huntington was one of Norwich's more high-end cabinetmakers and illustrates the financial constraints of even the well-to-do towards the end of the American Revolution. The desk at the Art Institute was also probably made for a member of the Huntington family. A brother of Elizabeth's, General Ebenezer Huntington (1754-1834) is thought to have been its first owner, a history supported by the desk's purchase from his granddaughter in 1885 by the collector, George Palmer. A grand juror and Captain of the Norwich Light Infantry Company, Felix Huntington was a good-standing member of his community through the 1780s. With a house and shop located in the old part of town, his patrons included the Devotion family and clockmakers Nathaniel Shipman, Jr. and Joseph Carpenter. In 1792, however, he declared bankruptcy and faced financial difficulties throughout the ensuing years (see Ada R. Chase, "Two 18th-Century Craftsmen of Norwich," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin (July 1960), pp. 84-88; Mayer and Myers, eds., The Devotion Family: The Lives and Possessions of Three Generations in Eighteenth-Century Connecticut (Lyman Allyn Museum, 1991), pp. 52-53).
Colonel John Chester was born in Wethersfield to John (1703-1771) and Sarah (Noyes) Chester (1722-1797). After graduating from Yale in 1766, he held office in the state legislature, served as captain in the Battle of Bunker Hill and continued to hold many civic and political positions throughout his life. Two of his nieces married John Knickerbacker of Waterford, New York: First, in 1816, Sally Coit, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Chester) Coit and second, in 1825, Caroline Chester, daughter of Thomas
(1764-1831) and Esther Margaret (Bull) Chester (1766-1844). The latter's daughter, Esther Margaret Knickerbacker (1826-1862) was the grandmother of the chest's owner in the early twentieth century.
This desk is one of a small number of surviving examples known block-and-shell casepieces from Norwich. It is almost identical to a desk in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 1) and together, the two represent the work of the same master craftsmen working in the late eighteenth century. Both share the same form and size and share details such as shell carvings with fifteen convex lobes with scooped petal interiors, drawer construction with dovetail keys forming nearly equilateral triangles and blocked feet with beaded and double-scrolled knee returns. They differ only in their interiors. The desk offered here has a straight-fronted bank of pigeonholes and short drawers with a detachable fan-carved prospect door. The interior of the desk at the Art Institute varies with a serpentine-shaped bank of small drawers made of zebrawood centered by a prospect door embellished with a smaller version of the concave shell on the lid's facade. While sharing characteristics with the other Norwich examples, they are distinguished by their use of mahogany rather than cherry as the primary wood and their large shells with fifteen rather than the more standard eleven convex lobes (For other Norwich block-and-shell examples, see Myers and Mayhew, New London County Furniture 1640-1840 (Lyman Allyn Museum, 1974), cats. 47, 48 and 58; and Ward, American Case Furniture from the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, 1988), cat. 160; Frederick K. and Margaret R. Barbour's Furniture Collection (The Connecticut Historical Society, 1963), pp. 39, 41, 43; American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. V, p. 1315, P4374).
A prominent Norwich cabinetmaker of the time, Felix Huntington (1749-1822) stands as a likely maker of both desks. Extensive research into the ancestors of the couple who inherited this desk in the early twentieth century reveals three lines with eigthteenth-century origins in New London County. One of these is John Chester (1749-1809) and Elizabeth Huntington (1757-1834) who married in 1773. While she was born in Norwich and was a distant cousin of Felix's, a letter written in 1782 indicates that her husband ordered chairs from Felix Huntington and was considering purchasing some of his more costly furniture. Writing from Wethersfield to a Joshua Huntington, John Chester states:
"Was in hopes to have procured those articles at least some cheaper. They still appear to me to be very unreasonably high considering the scarcity of hard cash. The Chairs we will have, but for the other articles it will not make material difference whether we answer you now or by next opportunity which cannot be long first. If we can procure them Cheaper we shall, and I think we can unless Mahogany is much dearer than I am aware. [Felix] Huntington has rather raised the price of Bureaus. I understood you he asked #7 for one swell'd and trimmed. #6 is certainly higher for a plain one without trimming. You shall here more from me soon on this business."
--cited in Bulkley, "Connecticut Cabinetmakers, Part I," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin (October 1967), p. 135.
While he later received a bill from Felix Huntington, it is not known whether it included any case pieces or if Chester found "cheaper" examples elsewhere. The mention of mahogany and bureaus as well as a possible reference-swell'd-to a blockfront facade certainly fits the description of the desk offered here. At the very least, the letter shows that Huntington was one of Norwich's more high-end cabinetmakers and illustrates the financial constraints of even the well-to-do towards the end of the American Revolution. The desk at the Art Institute was also probably made for a member of the Huntington family. A brother of Elizabeth's, General Ebenezer Huntington (1754-1834) is thought to have been its first owner, a history supported by the desk's purchase from his granddaughter in 1885 by the collector, George Palmer. A grand juror and Captain of the Norwich Light Infantry Company, Felix Huntington was a good-standing member of his community through the 1780s. With a house and shop located in the old part of town, his patrons included the Devotion family and clockmakers Nathaniel Shipman, Jr. and Joseph Carpenter. In 1792, however, he declared bankruptcy and faced financial difficulties throughout the ensuing years (see Ada R. Chase, "Two 18th-Century Craftsmen of Norwich," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin (July 1960), pp. 84-88; Mayer and Myers, eds., The Devotion Family: The Lives and Possessions of Three Generations in Eighteenth-Century Connecticut (Lyman Allyn Museum, 1991), pp. 52-53).
Colonel John Chester was born in Wethersfield to John (1703-1771) and Sarah (Noyes) Chester (1722-1797). After graduating from Yale in 1766, he held office in the state legislature, served as captain in the Battle of Bunker Hill and continued to hold many civic and political positions throughout his life. Two of his nieces married John Knickerbacker of Waterford, New York: First, in 1816, Sally Coit, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Chester) Coit and second, in 1825, Caroline Chester, daughter of Thomas
(1764-1831) and Esther Margaret (Bull) Chester (1766-1844). The latter's daughter, Esther Margaret Knickerbacker (1826-1862) was the grandmother of the chest's owner in the early twentieth century.