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拍品專文
A true gem of American craftsmanship, this box with drawer is a rare example of the form and replicates in miniature the refined cabinetry of Federal-era Baltimore and Annapolis. Meticulously delineated and shaded, the conch shell inlay points to the work of a specialist inlay maker who, based on surviving examples, supplied cabinetmakers working in these two Maryland cities. The motif was used throughout America during the early republic, as well as in England, but the specific detailing on the shell on this box, such as the frenetic, wavy outline of the upper edge, which continues under the third whorl of the shell's body, the exposed inner surface with four shaded lobes, the scrolled terminus and the pale green ground, is also seen in the inlaid ornament on furniture labeled by or attributed to John Shaw (1745-1829) of Annapolis and William Patterson (1774-1816) of Baltimore, as well as on forms generally ascribed to Baltimore. Those from Shaw's shop include a desk-and-bookcase labeled by Shaw and dated 1797 (fig. 1), an armchair attributed to Shaw made for the State House in about 1797 and a sideboard attributed to Shaw and/or his previous partner Archibald Chisolm (d. 1810) dating to about 1800 (William Voss Elder and Lu Bartlett, John Shaw: Cabinetmaker of Annapolis (Baltimore, 1983), cats. 40, 43, 55); those from Baltimore include a tall-case clock with a dated 1797 label of William Patterson and contemporaneous Baltimore demi-lune card tables (Sumpter Priddy III, J. Michael Flanigan and Gregory R. Weidman, "The Genesis of Neoclassical Style in Baltimore Furniture," American Furniture 2000, Luke Beckerdite ed. (Milwaukee, 2000), pp. 83-84, figs. 36, 39; Russell Buskirk, "A California Collection," Antiques & Fine Art (Spring 2008), p. 168; [Baltimore Museum of Art], Baltimore Furniture: The Work of Baltimore and Annapolis Cabinetmakers from 1760 to 1810 (Baltimore, 1947), cat. 14, pp. 40-41).
The distinctive design of the shell inlay, its frequent appearance on urban Maryland furniture, and, as far as is known, its absence on furniture made elsewhere in America or England strongly suggests that the maker of the box's inlaid ornament was a local artisan. "Ebonist" Thomas Barrett (d. 1800) of Baltimore stands as a likely candidate for the maker of these pictorial inlays. An inventory of Barrett's estate includes 1316 "Shells for inlaying furniture" of which 238 were purchased in 1800 by William Patterson, whose circa 1797 clock cited above bears one of these conch shell inlays. While little is known of Barrett's origins, he probably emigrated from England and may have worked for cabinetmakers John Bankson (1754-1814) and Richard Lawson (1749-1803), who were in partnership in Baltimore from 1785 to 1792 (Priddy et al., pp. 83-84; Jane Webb Smith, "'A Large and Elegant Assortment': A Group of Baltimore Tall Clocks, 1795-1815," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, vol. XIII, no. 2 (November 1987), p. 59 (Smith records a slightly different number of shells: 1288 in Barrett's estate and 119 purchased by Patterson); Marilynn Johnson Bordes, Baltimore Federal Furniture in the American Wing (New York, 1972), n. p.). While pictorial inlays were often imported from abroad and many closely related conch designs adorn English forms, the exact articulation seen on this box has not been found on forms made outside of Maryland (see for example Shreve, Crump & Low, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (September 1984), back cover).
Like the pictorial inlay, the box is meticulously constructed and suggests the hand of one of the leading cabinetmakers working in Annapolis or Baltimore. These include Shaw, who is thought to have purchased inlays from Baltimore, Patterson and the 11 other prominent Baltimore cabinetmakers listed as debtors to Barrett's estate (Smith, pp. 59-61, 99 (fn. 28), 101-102 (fn. 68); Alexander Lourie, 'To Superintend the Necessary Repairs': The Careers and Work of William and Washington Tuck," American Furniture 2006, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, 2006), p. 158). The form and size of this box, with a width of 13 inches, is closely related to tea chests, which were slightly larger than tea caddies. The use of shell inlay and rope stringing on the edges on the box offered here appear to have been decorative devices favored by both English and American makers for tea caddies, tea chests, liquor boxes and other small boxes (Charles F. Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period (New York, 1966), pp. 432-433, cats. 436-438; Shreve, Crump & Low advertisement, cited above; a Maryland tea chest with rope stringing is in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 2001-1,1). Featuring a lock and drawer, but lacking a divided interior, this box was probably used to store small valuables and documents rather than tea. Supporting a possible attribution to Shaw, a box of the same form survives bearing the label of Shaw and Chisolm and probably dates to their second partnership in 1783-1784 (the labeled box is in the Annapolis Collection, Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-0814, available at https://msa.maryland.gov/). Furthermore, Shaw frequently advertised the sale of tea caddies imported from England and thus, would have been familiar with the form and its decorative treatments (Elder and Bartlett, pp. 14, 23). Other features supporting its production in Annapolis or Baltimore includes its use of poplar secondary woods, oval inlay with rope inlaid border, ovoid stringing on the drawer and lobed skirt with patera inlay, details that separately are found in various locales but taken together, strongly suggest a Maryland origin.
The distinctive design of the shell inlay, its frequent appearance on urban Maryland furniture, and, as far as is known, its absence on furniture made elsewhere in America or England strongly suggests that the maker of the box's inlaid ornament was a local artisan. "Ebonist" Thomas Barrett (d. 1800) of Baltimore stands as a likely candidate for the maker of these pictorial inlays. An inventory of Barrett's estate includes 1316 "Shells for inlaying furniture" of which 238 were purchased in 1800 by William Patterson, whose circa 1797 clock cited above bears one of these conch shell inlays. While little is known of Barrett's origins, he probably emigrated from England and may have worked for cabinetmakers John Bankson (1754-1814) and Richard Lawson (1749-1803), who were in partnership in Baltimore from 1785 to 1792 (Priddy et al., pp. 83-84; Jane Webb Smith, "'A Large and Elegant Assortment': A Group of Baltimore Tall Clocks, 1795-1815," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, vol. XIII, no. 2 (November 1987), p. 59 (Smith records a slightly different number of shells: 1288 in Barrett's estate and 119 purchased by Patterson); Marilynn Johnson Bordes, Baltimore Federal Furniture in the American Wing (New York, 1972), n. p.). While pictorial inlays were often imported from abroad and many closely related conch designs adorn English forms, the exact articulation seen on this box has not been found on forms made outside of Maryland (see for example Shreve, Crump & Low, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (September 1984), back cover).
Like the pictorial inlay, the box is meticulously constructed and suggests the hand of one of the leading cabinetmakers working in Annapolis or Baltimore. These include Shaw, who is thought to have purchased inlays from Baltimore, Patterson and the 11 other prominent Baltimore cabinetmakers listed as debtors to Barrett's estate (Smith, pp. 59-61, 99 (fn. 28), 101-102 (fn. 68); Alexander Lourie, 'To Superintend the Necessary Repairs': The Careers and Work of William and Washington Tuck," American Furniture 2006, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, 2006), p. 158). The form and size of this box, with a width of 13 inches, is closely related to tea chests, which were slightly larger than tea caddies. The use of shell inlay and rope stringing on the edges on the box offered here appear to have been decorative devices favored by both English and American makers for tea caddies, tea chests, liquor boxes and other small boxes (Charles F. Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period (New York, 1966), pp. 432-433, cats. 436-438; Shreve, Crump & Low advertisement, cited above; a Maryland tea chest with rope stringing is in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 2001-1,1). Featuring a lock and drawer, but lacking a divided interior, this box was probably used to store small valuables and documents rather than tea. Supporting a possible attribution to Shaw, a box of the same form survives bearing the label of Shaw and Chisolm and probably dates to their second partnership in 1783-1784 (the labeled box is in the Annapolis Collection, Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-0814, available at https://msa.maryland.gov/). Furthermore, Shaw frequently advertised the sale of tea caddies imported from England and thus, would have been familiar with the form and its decorative treatments (Elder and Bartlett, pp. 14, 23). Other features supporting its production in Annapolis or Baltimore includes its use of poplar secondary woods, oval inlay with rope inlaid border, ovoid stringing on the drawer and lobed skirt with patera inlay, details that separately are found in various locales but taken together, strongly suggest a Maryland origin.