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Lot Essay
Surviving in remarkable condition with its original brasses, this chest-of-drawers is part of an important group of bombé furniture made in late eighteenth-century Marblehead, Massachusetts. The group comprises eleven or twelve chests-of-drawers and four chest-on-chests (see below) that are distinguished by the design of the base moldings, bracket feet and pendant drops and share a number of salient construction details. The quality of the workmanship, as evidenced by the chest offered here, as well as the number and import of survivals, indicates that this as yet unidentified shop was one of the most sophisticated and industrious of its time.
As first identified by Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, the group is distinguished by the design of the base and feet. The presence of the same base molding is particularly relevant as the composite profile, consisting of a small fillet, ogee and large fillet, is unusual and is not seen 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 forms generally display base molding profiles composed of an ogee, quarter-round and large fillet and for the most part lack the fully exposed lowermost rail. Furthermore, the ogee feet have distinctive profiles with a small pendant lobe above a larger cusp that is repeated in mirror form on the opposing edge of the central drop. Variations within the group are minimal and may indicate the presence of multiple workers or an evolution of shop practices. Differences include a top with plain or notched front corners, the presence or lack of a full dustboard between the second and third drawers, the retention or removal of the excess wood on the interior bulges of the case sides and the shaping of the rear foot brackets. Here, the chest has plain front corners, lacks the dustboard, the excess wood has not been removed and the rear brackets have a diagonal profile. See, Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), pp. 152-153.
Based on the research of Kemble Widmer II and Judy Anderson, the details of construction seen in this group of chests suggest that they were made in Marblehead. In their comparative studies of eighteenth-century furniture from Boston and the North Shore towns of Salem, Marblehead and Ipswich, Widmer and Anderson uncovered patterns of workmanship that when seen together enable an attribution to one of these locales. 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 prior to circa 1780 is Marblehead. Furthermore, the profile design of the feet and central drop is not seen on either Boston or Salem furniture, but does appear on furniture signed by Marblehead cabinetmakers Nathan Bowen (1752-1837), Ebenezer Martin (1750-1800), Benjamin Tyler Reed (1741-1792) and Francis Cook (1734-1772) (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; a desk signed by Reed, Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (September 1996), inside front cover; a chest-on-chest signed by Cook, Marblehead Historical Society, acc. no. 1910.31). Besides the pendant and bracket design, the known work of all of these cabinetmakers diverge in varying degrees to the practices of the group discussed above, most notably in the presence of the more standard profile of the base moldings. As such, this important group of bombé chests and chests-on-chests appear to be the work of another shop that competed with these cabinetmakers in late eighteenth-century Marblehead.
According to information passed down by its previous owners, this bombé chest descended in 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 well illustrates the basis of wealth for many of those who prospered along the North Shore in the late eighteenth century (see George Ropes (1788-1819), Crowninshield's Wharf, Salem, 1806, Peabody Essex Museum).
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 comprise: four that have previous sold at Christie's, New York (21 January 2022, lot 369, 24 January 2014, lot 146, 15-16 January 2004, lot 435, and 16 January 1998, lot 469); Jobe and Kaye, pp. 151-154, cat. 18; 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; Sotheby's, New York, 18 January 2001, lot 814 and 23 January 2009, lot 247; 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; Winterthur Library, Decorative Arts Photographic Collection (DAPC), 66.2373). Another 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. The bombé chest-on-chests in this group comprise: Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 1935-343; Carnegie Museum of Art, acc. no. 72.55.1.A-B; Skinner, 1 November 2003, lot 110; Sotheby’s, New York, 24 January 2009, lot 174.
As first identified by Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, the group is distinguished by the design of the base and feet. The presence of the same base molding is particularly relevant as the composite profile, consisting of a small fillet, ogee and large fillet, is unusual and is not seen 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 forms generally display base molding profiles composed of an ogee, quarter-round and large fillet and for the most part lack the fully exposed lowermost rail. Furthermore, the ogee feet have distinctive profiles with a small pendant lobe above a larger cusp that is repeated in mirror form on the opposing edge of the central drop. Variations within the group are minimal and may indicate the presence of multiple workers or an evolution of shop practices. Differences include a top with plain or notched front corners, the presence or lack of a full dustboard between the second and third drawers, the retention or removal of the excess wood on the interior bulges of the case sides and the shaping of the rear foot brackets. Here, the chest has plain front corners, lacks the dustboard, the excess wood has not been removed and the rear brackets have a diagonal profile. See, Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), pp. 152-153.
Based on the research of Kemble Widmer II and Judy Anderson, the details of construction seen in this group of chests suggest that they were made in Marblehead. In their comparative studies of eighteenth-century furniture from Boston and the North Shore towns of Salem, Marblehead and Ipswich, Widmer and Anderson uncovered patterns of workmanship that when seen together enable an attribution to one of these locales. 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 prior to circa 1780 is Marblehead. Furthermore, the profile design of the feet and central drop is not seen on either Boston or Salem furniture, but does appear on furniture signed by Marblehead cabinetmakers Nathan Bowen (1752-1837), Ebenezer Martin (1750-1800), Benjamin Tyler Reed (1741-1792) and Francis Cook (1734-1772) (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; a desk signed by Reed, Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (September 1996), inside front cover; a chest-on-chest signed by Cook, Marblehead Historical Society, acc. no. 1910.31). Besides the pendant and bracket design, the known work of all of these cabinetmakers diverge in varying degrees to the practices of the group discussed above, most notably in the presence of the more standard profile of the base moldings. As such, this important group of bombé chests and chests-on-chests appear to be the work of another shop that competed with these cabinetmakers in late eighteenth-century Marblehead.
According to information passed down by its previous owners, this bombé chest descended in 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 well illustrates the basis of wealth for many of those who prospered along the North Shore in the late eighteenth century (see George Ropes (1788-1819), Crowninshield's Wharf, Salem, 1806, Peabody Essex Museum).
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 comprise: four that have previous sold at Christie's, New York (21 January 2022, lot 369, 24 January 2014, lot 146, 15-16 January 2004, lot 435, and 16 January 1998, lot 469); Jobe and Kaye, pp. 151-154, cat. 18; 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; Sotheby's, New York, 18 January 2001, lot 814 and 23 January 2009, lot 247; 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; Winterthur Library, Decorative Arts Photographic Collection (DAPC), 66.2373). Another 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. The bombé chest-on-chests in this group comprise: Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 1935-343; Carnegie Museum of Art, acc. no. 72.55.1.A-B; Skinner, 1 November 2003, lot 110; Sotheby’s, New York, 24 January 2009, lot 174.