Auction details |
maple and white pine, the upper case with molded cornice above five lipped and graduated drawers, the lower case fitted with two drawers, the upper being a faux-fronted double drawer, all with realistic faux grain paint and faux-painted inlay, and original brass bale-handles, New Hampshire, probably Major John Dunlap or Samuel Dunlap, 1780-1820, 80-1/2 x 41 x 20-1/2 in. Appears to retain its original brasses and grain-painted surface, shrinkage cracks in case appear to post-date grain painting suggesting that the paint is original (see detail), bottom three drawers of upper case and bottom drawer of lower case fitted with later locks, minor losses, chips and cracks to painted surface, cracks due to shrinkage, other minor flaws, feet and knee returns appear to be intact (detailed photos available). Provenance: A note (probably mid 20th century) affixed to the inside of a drawer reads "This chest on chest is mentioned in old records as having been purchased from the estate of the forebears of Fred S. Morse and Sarah M. (Boyd) Camp. Date 1710-1720 origin. Cabriole Legs. Date of auction 6/12/1900. Goffstown, N.H." Two period pencil inscriptions on the center drawer of the upper case appear to read "Mercy Randell". Sarah Maria Boyd Camp married Caleb Camp in 1883. Her parents were Isaac Boyd and Maria Hadley. Maria Hadley's parents were Plummer Hadley, Jr., (1771-1861) and Polly Hadley (1781-1856), prominent citizens in Goffstown, New Hampshire, in the 18th/19th century. They married in Goffstown in 1804. The consignor is a descendant of this family. Plummer Hadley and other Hadley family members appear in the account books of Major John Dunlap. In 1774 he noted "Credet Plumer Hadley to cash Recd towards Joiner Work 48.0.0". Deacon Hadley (probably Joseph) bought furniture in 1775, and his son Ebenezer Hadley purchased furniture in 1782. (See The Currier Gallery of Art, [The Dunlaps and Their Furniture], Manchester, New Hampshire, 1970, pages 239, 206, 294). The pencil inscription of Mercy Randell likely refers to the Mercy Randell who married John Bolles (1755-1829) in New Hampshire in 1779, and had 13 children. This chest-on-chest may have been made about the time of her marriage, and, if so, it dates to the first generation of Dunlap cabinetmakers. The connection between the Randell/Bolles family and the Morse family is not clear. Reserve: $10,000 A closely related chest on chest is illustrated in [The Dunlaps and Their Furniture], No. 22. Another example with grain paint sold in Sotheby's auction of the Bertram and Nina Fletcher Little collection, part 2, New York City, October 22, 1994. A grain-painted desk signed by Samuel Dunlap sold at Northeast Auctions, Manchester, New Hampshire, March 6-7, 2004.
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