.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
A rare survival of a high chest and its matching dressing table, this en suite lot is closely related in design and construction to at least seven other forms and all may be the products of a single cabinetshop working in the Salem area during the mid-eighteenth century. Identified by Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, the dressing tables and high chests in this group display the same drawer arrangement, ogee-shaped skirt and leg design. An unusual feature is the thumbmolding on the drawers, which here and elsewhere in the group are applied rather than integral to the drawer fronts, the prevailing method seen on furniture from this period (see Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), pp. 188-190, cat. 32). With the same shaping to the skirt, walnut veneer and incorporation of a drawer in the tympanum, a high chest made for Samuel Gardner (1712/13-1769) of Salem appears to also be part of this group (see Leigh Keno American Antiques, 24 January 2020, lot 10). A possible maker of this group is Joseph Gavet (1699-1765), a shop joiner who can be linked to the production of veneered furniture; his inventory indicates that up until his death, he operated a well-outfitted shop that included 2 "Finering" saws and 140lbs of "Finering Weights" (see Benno Forman. “Salem Tradesmen and Craftsmen Circa 1762: A Contemporary Document," Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. 107, no. 1 (January 1971), pp 63-81).
The ensuite forms offered here are further distinguished by their history in the family for which they were made. Along with the Gardner example cited above and a high chest that descended from Aaron Putnam of nearby Danvers, these pieces demonstrate that this cabinetshop was active in the Salem area in the 1740s. A label on the dressing table states that these items were made for Mary Orne (1721-1787), who married Rev. James Diman (1707-1787) in 1743, a likely date for the production of these forms. She was born in Salem to Timothy Orne (1683-1753) and Lois Pickering (1684-1754), while Diman hailed from Bristol, Rhode Island, the son of Thomas Diman (1675-1754) and Hannah Finney (1687-1744). He was ordained minister of the Second, or East, Church in Salem in 1737, a post he held until he retired in 1783 and was succeeded by Rev. William Bentley (1759-1819), the indefatigable scholar and diarist. This high chest and dressing table furnished the Diman's house, a two-story gambrel-roof structure at 8 Hardy Street (see Frank Cousins and Phil M. Riley, The Colonial Architecture of Salem (Boston, 1919), pl. VIII). Local artist Benjamin Blyth (1746-1811) painted members of the family in about 1774 and James' portrait, along with a companion portrait of Mary noted to be an English copy, is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acc. nos. B.61.106.1, 2; a portrait by Blyth of their daughter Eunice (Diman) Mason is in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, acc. no. artwork 01.141.
The label on the dressing table also recounts an accurate genealogical record of one line of the Dimans' descendants, presumably the line in which the pieces descended. They appear to have been inherited by the couple's daughter Lois (1758-1839) who married Bernard Green (1752-1834). His estate inventory includes a "Chest of Drawers" valued at $4 and a "Dressing table & Looking Glass" valued at $2 in one bedroom and "1 Desk & Chest of Drawers, Table & Looking Glass" valued at $4 in another bedroom, references that likely include the high chest and dressing table offered here. The Greens resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts where in 1870, the subsequent three generations listed on the label all lived in the same house. By 1880, Nicholas St. John Green (1830-1876) and died but grandfather and grandson, Rev. James Diman Green (1798-1882) and Frederick Green (1868-1956), the last family member recorded on the label, were among the inhabitants of a house at 8 Story Street, Cambridge. Frederick moved to Illinois prior to 1910 and the early and mid-twentieth century history of these works is unknown. At the time of their sale in 1978, they were consigned by "Mr. and Mrs. Louis A. Little," most likely Louis Adams Little (1914-2012), who married a woman named Mildred in 1950, the only individuals with this name identified as living in the Boston area. Interestingly, Louis' occupation in the 1940 census is "Furniture salesman" and he may have acquired the pieces through his business operations.
The ensuite forms offered here are further distinguished by their history in the family for which they were made. Along with the Gardner example cited above and a high chest that descended from Aaron Putnam of nearby Danvers, these pieces demonstrate that this cabinetshop was active in the Salem area in the 1740s. A label on the dressing table states that these items were made for Mary Orne (1721-1787), who married Rev. James Diman (1707-1787) in 1743, a likely date for the production of these forms. She was born in Salem to Timothy Orne (1683-1753) and Lois Pickering (1684-1754), while Diman hailed from Bristol, Rhode Island, the son of Thomas Diman (1675-1754) and Hannah Finney (1687-1744). He was ordained minister of the Second, or East, Church in Salem in 1737, a post he held until he retired in 1783 and was succeeded by Rev. William Bentley (1759-1819), the indefatigable scholar and diarist. This high chest and dressing table furnished the Diman's house, a two-story gambrel-roof structure at 8 Hardy Street (see Frank Cousins and Phil M. Riley, The Colonial Architecture of Salem (Boston, 1919), pl. VIII). Local artist Benjamin Blyth (1746-1811) painted members of the family in about 1774 and James' portrait, along with a companion portrait of Mary noted to be an English copy, is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acc. nos. B.61.106.1, 2; a portrait by Blyth of their daughter Eunice (Diman) Mason is in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, acc. no. artwork 01.141.
The label on the dressing table also recounts an accurate genealogical record of one line of the Dimans' descendants, presumably the line in which the pieces descended. They appear to have been inherited by the couple's daughter Lois (1758-1839) who married Bernard Green (1752-1834). His estate inventory includes a "Chest of Drawers" valued at $4 and a "Dressing table & Looking Glass" valued at $2 in one bedroom and "1 Desk & Chest of Drawers, Table & Looking Glass" valued at $4 in another bedroom, references that likely include the high chest and dressing table offered here. The Greens resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts where in 1870, the subsequent three generations listed on the label all lived in the same house. By 1880, Nicholas St. John Green (1830-1876) and died but grandfather and grandson, Rev. James Diman Green (1798-1882) and Frederick Green (1868-1956), the last family member recorded on the label, were among the inhabitants of a house at 8 Story Street, Cambridge. Frederick moved to Illinois prior to 1910 and the early and mid-twentieth century history of these works is unknown. At the time of their sale in 1978, they were consigned by "Mr. and Mrs. Louis A. Little," most likely Louis Adams Little (1914-2012), who married a woman named Mildred in 1950, the only individuals with this name identified as living in the Boston area. Interestingly, Louis' occupation in the 1940 census is "Furniture salesman" and he may have acquired the pieces through his business operations.