BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1760-1780

Eastern Long Island's proximity to New England as well as the numerous close family, social and economic ties Long Islanders had to Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts explain the many pieces of New England furniture with documented histories of ownership in Long Island families. Through marriage as well, the Gardiner family had an extended network of contacts in New England. David Gardiner (1738-1774), the 6th Proprietor of Gardiner's Island, embarked on an ambitious campaign in 1774 to build a new "mansion house", and presumably he also began to acquire new furnishings, including the Rhode Island chest-on-chest, here lot 259.