Furniture Specific: Gifts of Dow

The first look at the gallery shows a panorama of American furniture that yells out to you ‘Hurry’ but don’t.

Take time to look and absorb things you may never see again beginning with a court cupboard made by Thomas Dennis of Ipswich, Mass 1680-1690, a gift of the Dows. It is made of carved oak with pine panels and an oak carcass. A court cupboard was a storage cabinet from the 16th and 17th centuries that basically served as a modern-day china cabinet in northern Europe and made the transition to the Colonies with only minor alterations. This cabinet displays the typical large turned bulbs of the Jacobean period. The form was revived in the Depression era as the china cabinet for Jacobean-style Colonial Revival dining sets.

The next eyeful is a Hadley chest circa 1694 from Hadley, Mass, also a gift of the Dows. The style was named for the town and similar chests were made there from around 1675 to 1740. It is made with elaborate shallow vine and flower carvings in oak and pine and has the initials ‘MS’ in the center panel, probably those for whom the chest was made. The large chest was often the only piece of furniture owned by Colonists and served as storage chest, treasure chest, table, bench and desk. American chests had flat tops usually pine to serve as sitting areas unlike those of European counterparts who had paneled tops.

Next up, and don’t even think about sitting down, is a William and Mary chair from the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania, circa 1710. Made of carved, turned and painted oak with a woven natural rush seat this chair shows the verticality of the William and Mary style.

It also features the bold bulb turning in the front stretcher. This was a ‘turner’s’ chair.

Close by is a close relative of the William and Mary chair, a Flemish-style chair from New England, first quarter of the 18th century, from the Dows. This chair, while showing the long lean look of the William and Mary style, retains the carved crest and stretcher of the earlier Restoration style of 1660 when the monarchy was restored in England. Very few examples of this type chair were made in the Colonies. Most were imported from London.

Somebody has to keep track of all this stuff and they need a desk. Here’s a perfect piece, a maple desk on frame with Queen Anne feet, circa 1740, from Massachusetts.

While the entire piece is interesting, what caught my eye was the plethora of tools marks seen in the drop front when viewed through the glare of the overhead light. You can see each individual stoke of the plane that smoothed this breadboard front.

Time to look up. The Salem highboy on Queen Anne legs is taller than you are. This highboy, made of walnut and maple with brass pulls and a flat top, circa 1740, predates the enchantment with bonnet tops that gripped Salem cabinetmakers around mid-century. The Salem bonnet top then evolved into the closed bonnet when Salem cabinetmakers extended the back panel to include the bonnet. Unlike many Salem highboys this one has the two acorn drops under the skirt.

The height of the American highboy can be seen next in this Chippendale example from Philadelphia, circa 1750-1780. Philadelphia was the wealthiest city in the Colonies in mid-century and its highboys reflected the status. This one, like the best of the bunch, has matching carved drawers in the upper and lower cases with an open bonnet top centered by an urn and flame finial flanked by floral rosettes and dentil molding.

Perhaps my favorite in this gallery from the early section is the birdcage piecrust tilt-top table, also from Philadelphia, circa 1750-1780. This table has the popular but very expensive to make scalloped pie crust top, found in only one in 10 tables of the period, the Pennsylvania-style floating collar under the bird cage above the typical Pennsylvania compressed ball and column, acanthus carved knees and elongated ball and claw feet with a flattened ball.