Early William & Mary

[jacon4]

An interesting chest of drawers came on the market a few weeks ago, a chest i went after hard but lost, oh well, losing is a big part of collecting. This particular form chest was made in Boston between 1690-1720 by several different shops according to Frances Gruber Safford in her wonderful book "American Furniture In The Metropolitan Museum Of Art 1. Early Colonial Period: The Seventeenth- Century and William and Mary Styles". The MMA has one of these 24 or so known chests from the Bolles collection pictured in plate # 111 in Safford's book. Whats interesting about these chests is their transitional nature, frame & panel construction of the 17th century with a nod to the comming W&M style, with a single dovetail on the drawer construction and the ball feet. The frame is oak with the panels on drawer fronts and sides made from pine and although the feet & brasses are replaced and the painted decoration long gone, it's still an important piece of americana. The listing  
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7899976

In plate 110 of Saffords book is a similar form chest made a few miles up the coast in Middlesix or Essix that still has it's original paint decoration and is the only known example that has it's paint intact, very impressive.

[Mark Arnold]

Jacon,

Do you mind divulging the sale price of the piece you bid on? I think it would be difficult to reproduce that piece today even for the auction high estimate. The paint on the MMA piece is quite stunning--poor man's inlay, right?

[jacon4]

Hey Mark, i bid 4k with buyers premium and the chest went for 4740. with BP. I am still kicking myself over letting this chest go, i just sat there like an idiot when it hit my predetermined limit. Yes, it is not a high style 2 part highboy type piece that were made in boston, philly, etc. but if Safford is correct that it was made in several different shops (she bases this on the fact that of the known examples, the drawer construction is different) then it must have been pretty popular among the regular type folks who just needed furniture. Pic below is MMA chest # 111 in Safford book.

[jacon4]

Okey Dokey, there is a Robert Crosman chest comming to market soon and although the auction estimate is most likely a tease to get collectors in there to generate some buzz (hey, its working!) the sale of any Crosman piece is kinda an important event, particularly if the paint is intact. The listing
http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/attributed-to-robert-crosman-1707-1799-0-c-8df2ce2861

For those not familar with Crosman, he's the guy who built the now rather famous "Taunton Chest", he was a drum maker from Taunton Mass. In 2006, his most celebrated chest from the Blair collection sold for 2.9 million, a world record for an american painted piece as well as the record for an american william & mary piece. The Blair chest is considered the "rosetta stone" of Crosman's chests because its the only chest thats signed and ties the 22 or so other Crosman chests to it. Heres an article with a good pic of the Blair chest along with a few other Crosman pieces.
 http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/media/images/00701-00800/00776/Ward_Taunton.pdf

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

[jacon4]

The early Crosman chest went for $14,600 with BP. Although almost 4 times it's high estimate, still a very good buy.