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拍品专文
Combining pristine condition and cabinetry indicative of the work of a Marblehead, Massachusetts shop, this chest-of-drawers is both a rare and historically important survival of the bombé form in America. With an old surface, original brasses and largely undisturbed construction, the chest is exceptionally well-preserved and points to the benign neglect and respectful care of its previous owners, including those in the Crowninshield family of Salem, two Midwestern collectors and renowned dealers Israel Sack and Jess Pavey. The chest is one of approximately eleven examples of the form that were most likely made in the same shop or perhaps two shops in close contact with each other (fig. 3; see list below). Details in the group's shared designs and, from available evidence, their interior construction methods strongly indicate that their maker or makers worked in the Essex County seafaring town of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
As first identified by Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, the group of chests is defined primarily by their use of similar designs for the ogee foot brackets and central drop, exposed rails beneath the bottom drawers and, apart from the chest offered here and one other, tops with notched front corners. Jobe and Kaye also note that the example formerly in the collections of Historic New England and one that descended in the Northey family of Salem were almost certainly made in the same shop as their makers used the same construction methods, templates, molding planes and brasses (Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), p. 152). While construction methods are not evident for the entire group, it appears that they all display case sides with remarkably similar curvatures, base mouldings of the same distinctive profile and for the most part, brasses of one of two designs-either those like the design seen on the chest offered here or those of the so-called "pine cone" pattern (the originality of the brasses has been noted for at least five of the chests). The presence of the same base molding profile is particularly relevant as the composite profile, consisting of a small fillet, ogee and large fillet, is unusual and has yet to be found on furniture outside of the group. Positioned along the base of the exposed rail, the molding pattern may have been specially chosen as the uppermost small fillet visually repeats the cockbeaded surrounds on the other rails. Other bombé furniture generally display molding profiles composed of an ogee, quarter-round and large fillet and for the most part also lack the fully exposed lowermost rail. Such consistency in certain features may prove to be a key feature indicating the work of a single shop and variations in construction methods may be attributed to evolution of practices and/or the presence of multiple workers within the same shop. These differences comprise the presence or lack of a full dustboard between the second and third drawers, the presence or planed removal of excess wood on interior bulge of the case sides and various shaping to the rear foot brackets (here with straight, slanted edges and elsewhere with curved edges or slanted edges with arched cut-outs).
Based on the research of Kemble Widmer II, the details of construction seen in this group of chests suggest that they were made in Marblehead. In his comparative studies of eighteenth-century furniture from Boston and the North Shore towns of Salem, Marblehead and Ipswich, Widmer has uncovered patterns of characteristics that when seen together point to the craftsmanship of one particular town. The drawer bottoms on this chest and several others from the group are placed with the grain running from front to back, a practice seen in Marblehead and Boston until about 1780. After about 1780, cabinetmakers from these towns began the more sound practice of placing the boards with the grain running from side to side, a method that had been used by Salem woodworkers since the 1740s. The tops of the drawer sides are embellished with a widely spaced double bead, a profile that appears on furniture from both Salem and Marblehead. Thus, based on just these two features, the only town in which they both appear is Marblehead. Further details support this attribution. The ogee foot brackets and central drop have distinct profiles-drops with a central astragal lobe flanked by small astragal drops and feet with small astragal drops and with an outward-pointing cusp, in effect echoing in mirror image profile of the central drop. As noted by Widmer, these designs are not seen on either Boston or Salem furniture, but do appear on furniture documented to Marblehead cabinetmakers Nathan Bowen (1752-1837) and Ebenezer Martin (1750-1800), such as the desk by Bowen in fig. 2 (Kemble Widmer II and Judy Anderson, "Furniture from Marblehead, Massachusetts," The Magazine Antiques (May 2003), pp. 99, 102, 103; Kemble Widmer II, catalogue note, Sotheby's, New York, 22-23 January 2010, lot 505, available online; see also a serpentine-front chest-on-chest signed by both Martin and Bowen, 1780, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acc. no. 33.373; a 1784 desk signed by Martin, cited by Widmer 2010). In addition, four chest-on-chests display similar drops and ogee bracket feet and base moldings seemingly of the same distinct profile. It is possible that the maker or makers of the group represented by the chest offered here were also responsible for these majestic bombé forms, one of which was first owned by Robert "King" Hooper (1709-1790) of Marblehead (for the four chest-on-chests, see Skinner, 1 November 2003, lot 110; Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 174; Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 1935-343; Carnegie Museum of Art, acc. no. 72.55.1.A-B).
Furthermore, the chest offered here bears additional details that resemble the work of Marblehead cabinetmaker Francis Cook (1734-1772) and it is likely that the maker of the group was a woodworker familiar with the practices of the Cook shop. Using the evidence from a chest-on-chest signed by Cook, Widmer attributed a bombé slant-front desk to Cook's shop and certain details of the Cook pieces are seen to an exacting degree on the chest offered here. The double-beaded tops of the drawer sides of the Cook desk and this chest appear to have been shaped with the plane placed slightly off center, leaving a part of the top of each side protruding beyond the outer bead. The dovetails joining the drawer fronts and sides are remarkably similar, with narrow, shallow dovetail pins of the same configuration with a pin on top and lacking a pin on bottom, the drawer fronts on both pieces are slightly greater in height than the drawer sides and the drawer bottoms are nailed to the underside of the drawer backs with approximately 10 small nails on each drawer. The underside of the Cook desk and this chest also display virtually identical blocking on the underside, with framework running around the sides and front and glueblocks carefully planed to echo the shaping of the foot brackets and central drop; and like the chest offered here, the Cook desk has rear brackets with straight canted inner edges. Finally, the two Cook pieces display the same two brass designs seen on the group represented by the chest offered here (Widmer 2010, cited above).
Significant differences, however, prevent an attribution to Cook's shop. The most significant variation is the shaping of the base molding. In contrast to the molding profile on this chest as discussed above, the Cook desk's base molding is in the more typical configuration with an ogee, quarter round and large fillet. Though possible, it seems unlikely that a cabinetshop would have had two expensive molding planes of such closely related profiles. Another key difference is the lack of shop marks on the chest offered here, which contrasts with the numbering system employed on both the Cook desk and the chest-on-chest. Other differences could be explained by variations within the same shop. Whereas the drawer sides of the Cook desk are curved and follow the bombé shaping of the case sides, those on this chest and others in the group are straight sided. Because curved drawer sides were less sturdy, Widmer argues, Cook compensated for their weakness by reversing the usual configuration of dovetail pins at the junctures of the drawer sides and drawer backs and placed supporting strips underneath the drawer sides, two features not seen on the chest offered here (Widmer 2010, cited above).
According to information passed down to the consignor, this bombé chest was owned by the Crowninshield family of Salem until 1910. Founded in America by German immigrant Johannes Caspar Richter von Kronenschieldt (anglicized to Crowninshield) (1661-1711), the family was among the most powerful in eighteenth-century Salem. Members of the Crowninshield family built magnificent homes and with the proceeds generated by vast shipping empires furnished them accordingly. Related by marriage to Elias Hasket Derby (1739-1799), "America's first millionaire," George Crowninshield (1734-1815) stands as a possible first owner of the chest offered here and an 1806 view of his wharf (fig. 1) well illustrates the basis of wealth for many of those who prospered along the North Shore in the late eighteenth century.
This chest was obtained from Crowninshield family descendants by Israel Sack and sold to Louis Esselstyn Brooks (1880-1958) of Marshall, Michigan. An executive at an appliance manufactory, Brooks acquired his first American antique at the age of 15 in 1895 and went on to form a magnificent collection of American furniture, which he housed in a restored Greek Revival mansion, "Stonehall," at 303 N. Kalamazoo Avenue in Marshall. Items formerly owned by Brooks include the slab-top table attributed to John Goddard (1724-1785) of Newport now owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County, one of the greatest Philadelphia easy chairs to survive and a number of eighteenth and early nineteenth-century chairs, some of which were later acquired by The Henry Ford Museum (The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery, RIF752; Christie's, New York, 21 January 2005, lot 308; Helen Comstock, "Acquisitions from the Louis E. Brooks Collection at the Henry Ford Museum," The Magazine Antiques (December 1960), pp. 566-569). After Brooks' death, the chest was sold by Jess Pavey to collectors Russell Wasson Nowels (1893-1976), an owner of a lumber yard, and his wife Grace (Fink) (1893-1979) of Rochester, Michigan. Other items from their collection were sold after her death at Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 19-22 November 1980.
The other bombé chests in this group are as follows. Five with some family history: The Haraden-Ropes family of Salem (fig. 3) (sold, Christie's, New York, 15-16 January 2004, lot 435); the Russell and Dalton families of Boston (sold, Christie's, New York, 16 January 1998, lot 469); Frances Elizabeth Everett Sawyer (d. 1915), Newton, Massachusetts and formerly in the collection of Historic New England (Jobe and Kaye, pp. 151-154, cat. 18); Northey family of Salem (Charles W. Lyon, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (April 1961), p. 319 and Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, The Lansdell K. Christie Collection of Notable American Furniture, 21 October 1972, lot 60); Perkins family (Sotheby's, New York, 18 January 2001, lot 814 and Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 247). Five with no family histories (Christie's, New York, 24 January 2014, lot 146; Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (August 1976), inside front cover; Ginsburg & Levy, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (February 1950), p. 101; Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, The Garbisch Collection, 23-25 May 1980, vol. 4, lot 1159; ex Katrina Kipper, Winterthur Library, Decorative Arts Photographic Collection (DAPC), 66.2373). An eleventh example which may or may not duplicate the chest that sold at Christie's in January 2014 cited above is referenced in DAPC, 70.3778 and was previously sold by John Walton).
As first identified by Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, the group of chests is defined primarily by their use of similar designs for the ogee foot brackets and central drop, exposed rails beneath the bottom drawers and, apart from the chest offered here and one other, tops with notched front corners. Jobe and Kaye also note that the example formerly in the collections of Historic New England and one that descended in the Northey family of Salem were almost certainly made in the same shop as their makers used the same construction methods, templates, molding planes and brasses (Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), p. 152). While construction methods are not evident for the entire group, it appears that they all display case sides with remarkably similar curvatures, base mouldings of the same distinctive profile and for the most part, brasses of one of two designs-either those like the design seen on the chest offered here or those of the so-called "pine cone" pattern (the originality of the brasses has been noted for at least five of the chests). The presence of the same base molding profile is particularly relevant as the composite profile, consisting of a small fillet, ogee and large fillet, is unusual and has yet to be found on furniture outside of the group. Positioned along the base of the exposed rail, the molding pattern may have been specially chosen as the uppermost small fillet visually repeats the cockbeaded surrounds on the other rails. Other bombé furniture generally display molding profiles composed of an ogee, quarter-round and large fillet and for the most part also lack the fully exposed lowermost rail. Such consistency in certain features may prove to be a key feature indicating the work of a single shop and variations in construction methods may be attributed to evolution of practices and/or the presence of multiple workers within the same shop. These differences comprise the presence or lack of a full dustboard between the second and third drawers, the presence or planed removal of excess wood on interior bulge of the case sides and various shaping to the rear foot brackets (here with straight, slanted edges and elsewhere with curved edges or slanted edges with arched cut-outs).
Based on the research of Kemble Widmer II, the details of construction seen in this group of chests suggest that they were made in Marblehead. In his comparative studies of eighteenth-century furniture from Boston and the North Shore towns of Salem, Marblehead and Ipswich, Widmer has uncovered patterns of characteristics that when seen together point to the craftsmanship of one particular town. The drawer bottoms on this chest and several others from the group are placed with the grain running from front to back, a practice seen in Marblehead and Boston until about 1780. After about 1780, cabinetmakers from these towns began the more sound practice of placing the boards with the grain running from side to side, a method that had been used by Salem woodworkers since the 1740s. The tops of the drawer sides are embellished with a widely spaced double bead, a profile that appears on furniture from both Salem and Marblehead. Thus, based on just these two features, the only town in which they both appear is Marblehead. Further details support this attribution. The ogee foot brackets and central drop have distinct profiles-drops with a central astragal lobe flanked by small astragal drops and feet with small astragal drops and with an outward-pointing cusp, in effect echoing in mirror image profile of the central drop. As noted by Widmer, these designs are not seen on either Boston or Salem furniture, but do appear on furniture documented to Marblehead cabinetmakers Nathan Bowen (1752-1837) and Ebenezer Martin (1750-1800), such as the desk by Bowen in fig. 2 (Kemble Widmer II and Judy Anderson, "Furniture from Marblehead, Massachusetts," The Magazine Antiques (May 2003), pp. 99, 102, 103; Kemble Widmer II, catalogue note, Sotheby's, New York, 22-23 January 2010, lot 505, available online; see also a serpentine-front chest-on-chest signed by both Martin and Bowen, 1780, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acc. no. 33.373; a 1784 desk signed by Martin, cited by Widmer 2010). In addition, four chest-on-chests display similar drops and ogee bracket feet and base moldings seemingly of the same distinct profile. It is possible that the maker or makers of the group represented by the chest offered here were also responsible for these majestic bombé forms, one of which was first owned by Robert "King" Hooper (1709-1790) of Marblehead (for the four chest-on-chests, see Skinner, 1 November 2003, lot 110; Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 174; Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 1935-343; Carnegie Museum of Art, acc. no. 72.55.1.A-B).
Furthermore, the chest offered here bears additional details that resemble the work of Marblehead cabinetmaker Francis Cook (1734-1772) and it is likely that the maker of the group was a woodworker familiar with the practices of the Cook shop. Using the evidence from a chest-on-chest signed by Cook, Widmer attributed a bombé slant-front desk to Cook's shop and certain details of the Cook pieces are seen to an exacting degree on the chest offered here. The double-beaded tops of the drawer sides of the Cook desk and this chest appear to have been shaped with the plane placed slightly off center, leaving a part of the top of each side protruding beyond the outer bead. The dovetails joining the drawer fronts and sides are remarkably similar, with narrow, shallow dovetail pins of the same configuration with a pin on top and lacking a pin on bottom, the drawer fronts on both pieces are slightly greater in height than the drawer sides and the drawer bottoms are nailed to the underside of the drawer backs with approximately 10 small nails on each drawer. The underside of the Cook desk and this chest also display virtually identical blocking on the underside, with framework running around the sides and front and glueblocks carefully planed to echo the shaping of the foot brackets and central drop; and like the chest offered here, the Cook desk has rear brackets with straight canted inner edges. Finally, the two Cook pieces display the same two brass designs seen on the group represented by the chest offered here (Widmer 2010, cited above).
Significant differences, however, prevent an attribution to Cook's shop. The most significant variation is the shaping of the base molding. In contrast to the molding profile on this chest as discussed above, the Cook desk's base molding is in the more typical configuration with an ogee, quarter round and large fillet. Though possible, it seems unlikely that a cabinetshop would have had two expensive molding planes of such closely related profiles. Another key difference is the lack of shop marks on the chest offered here, which contrasts with the numbering system employed on both the Cook desk and the chest-on-chest. Other differences could be explained by variations within the same shop. Whereas the drawer sides of the Cook desk are curved and follow the bombé shaping of the case sides, those on this chest and others in the group are straight sided. Because curved drawer sides were less sturdy, Widmer argues, Cook compensated for their weakness by reversing the usual configuration of dovetail pins at the junctures of the drawer sides and drawer backs and placed supporting strips underneath the drawer sides, two features not seen on the chest offered here (Widmer 2010, cited above).
According to information passed down to the consignor, this bombé chest was owned by the Crowninshield family of Salem until 1910. Founded in America by German immigrant Johannes Caspar Richter von Kronenschieldt (anglicized to Crowninshield) (1661-1711), the family was among the most powerful in eighteenth-century Salem. Members of the Crowninshield family built magnificent homes and with the proceeds generated by vast shipping empires furnished them accordingly. Related by marriage to Elias Hasket Derby (1739-1799), "America's first millionaire," George Crowninshield (1734-1815) stands as a possible first owner of the chest offered here and an 1806 view of his wharf (fig. 1) well illustrates the basis of wealth for many of those who prospered along the North Shore in the late eighteenth century.
This chest was obtained from Crowninshield family descendants by Israel Sack and sold to Louis Esselstyn Brooks (1880-1958) of Marshall, Michigan. An executive at an appliance manufactory, Brooks acquired his first American antique at the age of 15 in 1895 and went on to form a magnificent collection of American furniture, which he housed in a restored Greek Revival mansion, "Stonehall," at 303 N. Kalamazoo Avenue in Marshall. Items formerly owned by Brooks include the slab-top table attributed to John Goddard (1724-1785) of Newport now owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County, one of the greatest Philadelphia easy chairs to survive and a number of eighteenth and early nineteenth-century chairs, some of which were later acquired by The Henry Ford Museum (The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery, RIF752; Christie's, New York, 21 January 2005, lot 308; Helen Comstock, "Acquisitions from the Louis E. Brooks Collection at the Henry Ford Museum," The Magazine Antiques (December 1960), pp. 566-569). After Brooks' death, the chest was sold by Jess Pavey to collectors Russell Wasson Nowels (1893-1976), an owner of a lumber yard, and his wife Grace (Fink) (1893-1979) of Rochester, Michigan. Other items from their collection were sold after her death at Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 19-22 November 1980.
The other bombé chests in this group are as follows. Five with some family history: The Haraden-Ropes family of Salem (fig. 3) (sold, Christie's, New York, 15-16 January 2004, lot 435); the Russell and Dalton families of Boston (sold, Christie's, New York, 16 January 1998, lot 469); Frances Elizabeth Everett Sawyer (d. 1915), Newton, Massachusetts and formerly in the collection of Historic New England (Jobe and Kaye, pp. 151-154, cat. 18); Northey family of Salem (Charles W. Lyon, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (April 1961), p. 319 and Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, The Lansdell K. Christie Collection of Notable American Furniture, 21 October 1972, lot 60); Perkins family (Sotheby's, New York, 18 January 2001, lot 814 and Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 247). Five with no family histories (Christie's, New York, 24 January 2014, lot 146; Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (August 1976), inside front cover; Ginsburg & Levy, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (February 1950), p. 101; Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, The Garbisch Collection, 23-25 May 1980, vol. 4, lot 1159; ex Katrina Kipper, Winterthur Library, Decorative Arts Photographic Collection (DAPC), 66.2373). An eleventh example which may or may not duplicate the chest that sold at Christie's in January 2014 cited above is referenced in DAPC, 70.3778 and was previously sold by John Walton).