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Lot Essay
In addition to its distinctive inlay, the deep upper drawer is the most prominent feature of this bureau. Referred to at the time as a "tablet" or "blanket" drawer, and used to store coverlets or larger textiles, its large vertical surface presented the cabinetmaker with an ideal place for fashionable decorative veneer patterns and inlays. Various inlay options available to the purchaser included a rose, a lily of the valley, an eagle, a shell, or a feather-and-cross. All elements of this chest align with those characteristics synonymous with Federal cabinetmaking in New York.
This bureau relates closely to a large group of chests, many of which bear the label of Michael Allison (1773-1855) of New York City. Two examples of these are in the furniture collection at Boscobel, illustrated in Barry B. Tracy, Federal Furniture and Decorative Arts at Boscobel (New York, 1981), pp. 94-95, cat. nos. 62 and 63; a third example is in the collection of Wicklow House, Inc. and illustrated in The Magazine Antiques (January 1979), p. 97; a fourth example is in the New York State Museum and is illustrated in John Scherer, New York Furniture at the New York State Museum (Old Town Alexandria, 1983), p. 32.
Michael Allison was born in Haverstraw, New York, the third son of Captain Joseph Allison (1722-1796) and worked as a cabinetmaker in New York City between 1800 and 1850. Several city directories during this period locate his shop at the following addresses: 34 Vesey Street from 1801 to 1802, 40 Vesey Street from 1804 to 1807, 42 Vesey Street from 1808 to 1815 and 46 Vesey Street from 1816 to 1850. By 1851, his address does not appear next to his name, which may indicate that he had retired. His probate inventory is dated April 17, 1855, suggesting that he died sometime earlier that year. Valued at $27,860.55, his probate inventory included a mahogany bureau, which was valued at $6.
Recent scholarship indicates that Michael's brother, Richard Allison (1780-1825) briefly worked at 58 Vesey Street as a cabinetmaker from 1807 to 1813 (after 1814, he is listed as a grocer); Richard's chests are similar to those made by Michael, differing only with the presence of three short drawers over the tablet drawer and a scarcity of inlaid stringing. Richard is also known to have made butler's desks, in which the tablet drawer is replaced by a secretary drawer that pulls out and falls forward to form a writing surface with a divided and fitted interior. The close similarities between the documented chests and those unlabeled pieces may be the handiwork of either Allison, or a contemporary imitating their design. For more information and a comparison between the work of Richard and Michael Allison, see Margo C. Flannery, "Richard Allison and the New York City Federal style," The Magazine Antiques (May 1973), pp. 995-1001.
This bureau relates closely to a large group of chests, many of which bear the label of Michael Allison (1773-1855) of New York City. Two examples of these are in the furniture collection at Boscobel, illustrated in Barry B. Tracy, Federal Furniture and Decorative Arts at Boscobel (New York, 1981), pp. 94-95, cat. nos. 62 and 63; a third example is in the collection of Wicklow House, Inc. and illustrated in The Magazine Antiques (January 1979), p. 97; a fourth example is in the New York State Museum and is illustrated in John Scherer, New York Furniture at the New York State Museum (Old Town Alexandria, 1983), p. 32.
Michael Allison was born in Haverstraw, New York, the third son of Captain Joseph Allison (1722-1796) and worked as a cabinetmaker in New York City between 1800 and 1850. Several city directories during this period locate his shop at the following addresses: 34 Vesey Street from 1801 to 1802, 40 Vesey Street from 1804 to 1807, 42 Vesey Street from 1808 to 1815 and 46 Vesey Street from 1816 to 1850. By 1851, his address does not appear next to his name, which may indicate that he had retired. His probate inventory is dated April 17, 1855, suggesting that he died sometime earlier that year. Valued at $27,860.55, his probate inventory included a mahogany bureau, which was valued at $6.
Recent scholarship indicates that Michael's brother, Richard Allison (1780-1825) briefly worked at 58 Vesey Street as a cabinetmaker from 1807 to 1813 (after 1814, he is listed as a grocer); Richard's chests are similar to those made by Michael, differing only with the presence of three short drawers over the tablet drawer and a scarcity of inlaid stringing. Richard is also known to have made butler's desks, in which the tablet drawer is replaced by a secretary drawer that pulls out and falls forward to form a writing surface with a divided and fitted interior. The close similarities between the documented chests and those unlabeled pieces may be the handiwork of either Allison, or a contemporary imitating their design. For more information and a comparison between the work of Richard and Michael Allison, see Margo C. Flannery, "Richard Allison and the New York City Federal style," The Magazine Antiques (May 1973), pp. 995-1001.