Object Details
Chippendale Figured Mahogany High Chest of Drawers
ca. 1765-1800
Chippendale Figured Mahogany Shell-and-Block Chest of Drawers
ca. 1770-1790
Chippendale Mahogany Block-Front Bureau Table
ca. 1760-1790
Chippendale Figured Mahogany Block-Front Chest of Drawers
ca. 1760-1780
Object Essay
The four-drawer “case of drawers” was a relatively popular as well as utilitarian form in 18th-century America. Even in Newport, where a mahogany chest with a blocked front and three carved shells would have cost far more than a simple, straight-front object without carving, the more elaborate version was frequently requested. It is well documented that Newport cabinetmakers made quantities of furniture for export, but the more elaborate and expensive items such as this chest (see also Acc. No. 79.9, Acc. No. 71.86, and Acc. No. 78.67) would have been specially ordered by affluent local merchants and entrepreneurs.Sloane, 91.1
This chest differs from its counterparts (see, for example, Acc. No. 71.86) in a number of ways, including greater height, a narrower top with a shallower molding beneath it, pierced brasses, and, most notably, shells featuring a central fleur-de-lis and lacking the usual ribbing that defines the recesses between the lobes. This fleur-de-lis shell is found on a small group of varied forms, including a rare document cabinet and three high chests of drawers. Interestingly, three of these pieces were signed by their makers.
The document cabinet is the most unusual form and is inscribed twice in pencil “John Townsend/Newport.”Rodriguez Roque, 74–77, no. 34.2 Although the two convex shells of the cabinet differ from those on this chest in that they have ribbing separating the lobes, the concave shell is identical, with an incised arch that encircles the undulating outline of the shell. Both the cabinet and the chest have letters inscribed on their drawer backs in a florid 18th-century hand.
Two of the high chests were signed by their makers, and the one signed by John Townsend is dated 1759.Ward 1988, 265–268, no. 140; Moses, 177, fig. 3.99.3 The Townsend high chest also has florid letters inscribed in chalk on the drawer backs that are almost identical to those of the Collection’s chest. The other documented high chest is undated but is signed by the cabinetmaker Benjamin Baker; its shell lacks the high quality of articulation seen on the two documented Townsend pieces.Sloane, 100, fig. 1.4 The original brasses on the Department of State’s chest are identical to those used by Baker. Although the overall shape and central piercing of these brasses are unusual, the use of identical brasses need not be evidence for attribution since numerous cabinetmakers bought brasses from the same sources in Newport. The third high chest is unsigned and undated, but its finely carved shell is identical in detail to those on the chest and the documented examples by John Townsend cited above.
The absence of any brasses on the top block and shell-carved drawer makes opening it an apparent problem. This was ingeniously solved by the attachment of a narrow chestnut strip with a fingerhole at the front nailed to the center back of the drawer bottom. When the second drawer is opened, one reaches in, places a finger in the hole on the strip and pushes upward, thus releasing the lock; the drawer may then be pushed forward, revealing a baize-covered writing surface believed to be a 20th-century addition.
Although this chest can be attributed to John Townsend by its carving and inscribed letters, the comparison of certain construction features is not possible. Because the feet on the chest have been replaced, the original blocking does not survive to give as another hallmark of John Townsend’s distinctive methods.
Wendy A. Cooper
Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.