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拍品專文
Expertly carved with idiosyncratic details, this chest-of-drawers illustrates the work of a highly accomplished artisan working in Eastern Connecticut and emulating the renowned block-and-shell designs of nearby Newport, Rhode Island.
Displaying refined carved shells atop blocked contours, this chest imitates the work of the Newport masters in ornament, design and construction. The applied shells with finely filleted lobes on the frieze drawer strongly recall the Newport tradition as exemplified by the celebrated cabinetmaker John Townsend (1733-1809) (fig. 1). Perhaps because of the carving, Israel Sack attributed this chest to Townsend and referred to its possible production in Middletown, Connecticut, where Townsend was previously thought to have lived at the time of the British occupation of Newport during the Revolutionary War. For a closely related example also once credited to Townsend, see C.W. Lyon, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (June 1945), p. 305. While this chest does not illustrate the hand of John Townsend, it illustrates the workmanship of a cabinetmaker of related caliber. In addition to the expertly carved shells, the four-drawer configuration of this chest points to Newport influence as this design was favored by Newport cabinetmakers and contrasts with Eastern Connecticut, where the three-drawer design was more popular. Additional features indicating the inspiration of Newport include the use of chestnut as a secondary wood (on this chest, seen on the baseboard and glueblocks), double-beaded drawer sides and ogee bracket feet. While this chest is most strongly tied to the Newport shop traditions, the truncated height of the shells is reminiscent of furniture made in Providence, an influential style center during the same era.
The stylistic homage to Newport and Providence is indicative of furniture made in Eastern Connecticut and with similarities to a group identified by Thomas P. and Alice K. Kugelman and Robert Lionetti, this chest was probably made in the Colchester area. The tall, attenuated ogee feet with inward-raking bases and prominent spurs seen on this chest are related to those termed the "Lord Group" by the Kugelmans and Lionetti. As they discuss, the master of this shop may have been Amos Wells (1735-1802), whose working dates, longevity and recorded inventory of joiner's tools and expensive furniture support this argument. Wells may have established this long shop tradition, which ranged from approximately 1765 to 1795 with multiple generations of craftsmen having a hand in its prolific output (Thomas P. Kugelman Alice K. Kugelman and Robert Lionetti, Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800 (Hartford, CT, 2005), pp. 210, 225-226, cats. 100, 101A; for further discussion of the career and estate of Wells, see Minor Myers and Edgar Mayhew, New London County Furniture 1640-1840 (New London, Connecticut, 1974), pp. 128-129). Despite the similarities in the design of the feet, the chest offered here displays variant construction in the feet, case and top indicating it is from a distinct shop tradition but perhaps one in close proximity to the makers of "Lord Group" furniture.
Displaying refined carved shells atop blocked contours, this chest imitates the work of the Newport masters in ornament, design and construction. The applied shells with finely filleted lobes on the frieze drawer strongly recall the Newport tradition as exemplified by the celebrated cabinetmaker John Townsend (1733-1809) (fig. 1). Perhaps because of the carving, Israel Sack attributed this chest to Townsend and referred to its possible production in Middletown, Connecticut, where Townsend was previously thought to have lived at the time of the British occupation of Newport during the Revolutionary War. For a closely related example also once credited to Townsend, see C.W. Lyon, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (June 1945), p. 305. While this chest does not illustrate the hand of John Townsend, it illustrates the workmanship of a cabinetmaker of related caliber. In addition to the expertly carved shells, the four-drawer configuration of this chest points to Newport influence as this design was favored by Newport cabinetmakers and contrasts with Eastern Connecticut, where the three-drawer design was more popular. Additional features indicating the inspiration of Newport include the use of chestnut as a secondary wood (on this chest, seen on the baseboard and glueblocks), double-beaded drawer sides and ogee bracket feet. While this chest is most strongly tied to the Newport shop traditions, the truncated height of the shells is reminiscent of furniture made in Providence, an influential style center during the same era.
The stylistic homage to Newport and Providence is indicative of furniture made in Eastern Connecticut and with similarities to a group identified by Thomas P. and Alice K. Kugelman and Robert Lionetti, this chest was probably made in the Colchester area. The tall, attenuated ogee feet with inward-raking bases and prominent spurs seen on this chest are related to those termed the "Lord Group" by the Kugelmans and Lionetti. As they discuss, the master of this shop may have been Amos Wells (1735-1802), whose working dates, longevity and recorded inventory of joiner's tools and expensive furniture support this argument. Wells may have established this long shop tradition, which ranged from approximately 1765 to 1795 with multiple generations of craftsmen having a hand in its prolific output (Thomas P. Kugelman Alice K. Kugelman and Robert Lionetti, Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800 (Hartford, CT, 2005), pp. 210, 225-226, cats. 100, 101A; for further discussion of the career and estate of Wells, see Minor Myers and Edgar Mayhew, New London County Furniture 1640-1840 (New London, Connecticut, 1974), pp. 128-129). Despite the similarities in the design of the feet, the chest offered here displays variant construction in the feet, case and top indicating it is from a distinct shop tradition but perhaps one in close proximity to the makers of "Lord Group" furniture.