Introduction (continued)
In this interview John Davis takes the viewer through the steps involved in creating a bombe chest similar to the chest of drawers attributed to the shop of John Cogswell, Boston, 1780-1795 (fig i). The bombe chest is almost exclusively found in the Boston and Salem area. Its unique kettle shape has spawned many an article debating its origins. Gilbert T. Vincent's "Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, The Bombe' Furniture of Boston" (Out-of-Print)3 and Robert Mussey's and Anne Rogers Halley's , "John Cogswell and Boston Bombe' Furniture: Thirty-Five Years of Revolution in Politics and Design." American Furniture 1994 4 are two excellent resources on the subject.
Another article well worth looking at is Lance Pattersons, "Boston Bombe Chest Bulging drawer fronts are all shaped at once."5 this article appeared in Fine Woodworking magazine and later in "Fine Woodworking on Making Period Furniture". The article documents a completely different approach than John Davis' for sculpting the bombe chest.