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Lot Essay
With its pinwheel volutes, radiating fans with thumb-nail gouged ends, sharply creased knees and apron with a "cupid's bow" profile, this high chest-of-drawers relates closely to a group of furniture made in Salem, Massachusetts area. For a very closely related example with identically-shaped apron, see a bonnet-top high chest attributed to Newburyport, in a private collection and illustrated in Winterthur Library's Photographic Collection (DAPC #2000.0018); a second related example, also attributed to Salem, was sold Christie's New York, January 25, 1986, lot 369.
This high chest-of-drawers also exhibits several design features now recognized as characteristic of Salem: the practice of leaving the drawer blades exposed rather than obscuring them, the side-to-side orientation of the drawer bottoms and the slightly undercut pad foot. The use of a "hanging box" to support the bonnet, which is then left open at the rear, are generally considered atypical of Salem and may indicate a cabinetmaker who had trained in Salem but worked in another area.
For more information on the different regional characteristics of furniture made in the North Shore area of Massachusetts, see Kemble Widmer II and Judy Anderson, "Furniture from Marblehead, Massachusetts", The Magazine Antiques (May, 2003), pp. 96-105.
This high chest-of-drawers also exhibits several design features now recognized as characteristic of Salem: the practice of leaving the drawer blades exposed rather than obscuring them, the side-to-side orientation of the drawer bottoms and the slightly undercut pad foot. The use of a "hanging box" to support the bonnet, which is then left open at the rear, are generally considered atypical of Salem and may indicate a cabinetmaker who had trained in Salem but worked in another area.
For more information on the different regional characteristics of furniture made in the North Shore area of Massachusetts, see Kemble Widmer II and Judy Anderson, "Furniture from Marblehead, Massachusetts", The Magazine Antiques (May, 2003), pp. 96-105.