POSSIBLY BY JOSEPH RAWSON, SR. (1760-1835), PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1806

This chest-of-drawers with its serpentine facade, elongated flared feet and ogee-shaped skirt is closely related to examples of chests signed or labeled by Joseph Rawson, Sr. (1760-1835) now in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (see Rhode Island Furniture Archive, RIF1774 and RIF877). For a similar bow-front example bearing Rawon's label, see Eleanore Bradford Monahon, "The Rawson Family of Cabinetmakers in Providence, Rhode Island," The Magazine Antiques (July 1980), p. 137, fig. 8; (RIF4546). As two of these related examples are dated 1806, it is likely that the chest offered here was made by Rawson around this time.