Court Cupboard, oak,
Massachusetts, 1670-90.

Private Collection.

It became known as "the lost cupboard." In the late 1990s the Chipstone Foundation began preparing a major exhibition of American court cupboards. They searched high and low for this one: it was pictured in Nutting's Furniture of the Pilgrim Century (1921) and again in his Furniture Treasury (1928), and that was the last that anyone knew about it. The owner, credited by Nutting, was a Mr. James Campbell of Hartford, who also owned another court cupboard and "had placed them in a room paneled to honor them." Nutting comments, "A simple splay-type cupboard, very attractive, owing to its freedom from over ornament. The raking of the small dentils under cap and shelf is very noticeable, and a good decorative feature."
In 2004, a third generation member of the Campbell family, who had neither interest nor knowledge of what he'd inherited, threw the cupboard into a local country auction, where it was equally unappreciated and unadvertised, but from where it went straight to the eager arms of its present owner. Winterthur has a similar cupboard by the same joiner, who is believed also to have worked at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

William and Mary Chest of Drawers, walnut, Pennsylvania.

Private Collection.

The owner, with justifiable pride, calls this diminutive chest of drawers, "Simply, the best Pennsylvania William and Mary chest known to exist." It brings together all the desirable elements of William and Mary cabinetry - the inlay on the drawers and top, the paneled sides and the boldness of the feet and the moldings. "Nothing is missing, there's no more you could ask for." And all these elements are found in a chest of perfect proportions and small size, only 33" wide. The geometric inlay is the forerunner of the vine and berry inlay that becomes typical of later inlaid Pennsylvania furniture.

“Bible” Box, pine, initialed and dated “PG 1685,” possibly Woburn, Massachussetts.

Stephen-Douglas Antiques, PO Box 27, Rockingham, VT 05101, (802) 463-4296.

Though these boxes are now called "bible boxes," they were originally used to store any small items, not just bibles. To take just one example from the probate records of Essex County, Massachusetts, "1 box and some small matters in it, as two small black handkerchiefs, 1 black quoife, 1 bonnet."
This box still retains traces of its original mustard yellow, red and black paint. It has a good provenance, coming from the Marvin Sale collection in Burlington, Vermont. The Sales had moved an early Connecticut house to Burlington to house their collection, which was featured in The Magazine Antiques, February 1972. One of the photographs shows this box sitting on top of a Salem carved chest of drawers. John Walton bought it at the sale of the collection and sold it to the collector from whom Steve Corrigan acquired it.

A Setting of Early Pennsylvanian Furniture

Private Collection.

The owner spotted the chair on the left in the back corner of a 1987 New York auction. The auctioneer looked for an opening bid of $1,000, could not find one, tried $700 and sold it to the owner on the only bid. What made the owner's voice glow with pleasure as he told me the story, was that one of his main competitors had rushed into the room literally 30 seconds after the hammer fell!
It's a rare chair from Chester County, walnut, c. 1700. It has many Anglo elements, particularly the heavy slab arms cut from a vertical board which are seen in English furniture from the first half of the seventeenth century. On the other side of the table is a panel-back, slightly later chair, also walnut, c. 1720, whose arms have become more Pennsylvanian.
Between them is an important side table, made of walnut with hard pine secondary, from downtown Philadelphia, c. 1710. It, too, shows a strong Anglo influence in both form and turnings, though the blocks centering each stretcher have no English antecedents. Its rarest and most distinctive feature is the "high-low" arrangement of the stretchers. It was included in the 1999 exhibition, Worldly Goods, the Arts of Early Pennsylvania, 1680-1758, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but, because it was a late discovery, was not pictured in their catalog. On it is an early spice chest, or valuables cabinet, also walnut, c. 1710. As is typical of the first generation of these cabinets, the interior is simple, just four stacked drawers, all of the same size. Later versions featured a more elaborate arrangement of drawers often surrounding a prospect door.

Pewter Charger by Edmund Dolbeare of Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, c.1675.

Hollis Brodrick, The Antiquarian, 25 Ceres St, Portsmouth, NH 03801, (603) 427-1690.

Pewter was the most widely used material for household utensils in seventeenth-century America, and while most was imported from England, there were a few American pewterers, of which the Dolbeare family is perhaps the best known. Despite its ubiquity in its time, very little early pewter has survived. It was a soft metal that wore out with daily use and could be easily sent to the local pewterer to be melted and re-made. Only six or seven American chargers of this period are known to have survived. Striking the maker's mark four times on the rim, with no other touches, is an American practice, rarely found on English pewter.
Edmund Dolbeare was born in Ashburton, Devon, England, in 1644, and he first appears in American records in Boston in 1671. He worked in Boston 1671-1684, in Salem 1684-1693 and then moved back to Boston until his death between 1706 and 1711. All his life, he had to struggle to make a living, possibly because the imported English pewter was so competitive.

Tripod Pot and Cover, and Bowl, cast iron, probably Saugus, Massachusetts, 1646-1668.

Private Collection.

The Saugus Iron Works in Massachusetts has been called "the prototype of American heavy industry." It was certainly the first industrial complex in the New World. It operated from 1646 to 1668, and consisted of a blast furnace, foundry, forge and a rolling and slitting mill - this last was one of only 12 in the world and was at the cutting edge of technology. When the works closed, many of the workers dispersed and started their own works. One was Joseph Jenks, the designer of the "pine tree" shilling, who opened a forge in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1672.
The owner was given the bowl shown here by a direct descendent of Jenks. Its massiveness is typical of seventeenth-century iron - it is eight inches in diameter and between 3/8" and 1/2" thick. The two concentric rings have also been found on shards excavated at the Saugus site. The tripod pot and cover is small, the diameter of the pot is only 3", and it stands on the pentagonal legs with faintly defined hooves that were made only at Saugus. The ears are of an early form, prominent and straight. The saw tooth pattern on top of the bail handle is otherwise unknown. The fine casting and details suggests that this may have been a presentation piece, perhaps to a bride or girlfriend of one of the iron workers.

Joint Stool, oak, probably Ipswich,
Masschusetts, c. 1670.

Private Collection.

The owner acquired this stool from a member of the Avery family, whose ancestors had been clockmakers in the New London area of Connecticut in the eighteenth century. The family had moved there from Ipswich, Massachusetts, toward the end of the seventeenth century, probably, or so the owner believes, taking the stool with them. His belief is based on the fact that its most distinctive feature, the "square-turned" legs, occurs only on five other pieces of early New England furniture, all wainscot chairs that are confidently attributed to Thomas Dennis of Ipswich. The attribution of this stool to Dennis seems highly plausible. Dennis emigrated from England in 1663.
The "square-turning" on this stool is deeper and better defined than on the chairs, but still appears to be by the same hand. The owner's restorer pointed out that square-turning requires much more labor than lathe-turning. Each element involves four saw cuts to an exact depth, and then each side has to be shaped with a chisel. He could, he said, turn four legs on a lathe in the time it would take to cut one like this. Square-turning was a more expensive, aesthetic choice of the original owner, with which the present owner fully and happily agrees - he loves the way that light plays differently on the different angles.
The owner has had a new seat made, which is secured by an ingenious method that does not compromise the integrity of the frame and that makes the seat easily removable.

William and Mary Chest of Drawers, walnut with oak, Pennsylvania.

HL Chalfant Antiques, 1352 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380, (610) 696-1862, info@hlchalfant.com, www.hlchalfant.com.

This is a little gem, only 33" wide, with a great architectural stance. It was probably made by Quakers, and as Scott Chalfant pointed out, "The rear stiles and feet are oak, not walnut - those Pennsylvanian Quakers liked to save money whenever they could!" The double-bead moldings on the case combine with the moldings framing the drawer fronts to create a complex play of light and shadow that gives the piece visual distinction while keeping far away from ostentatious ornamentation. The twin side panels enhance its verticality. Simple, and simply beautiful.

Joined Blanket Chest, yellow pine, attributed to Enos Kingsley (1640-1708,)Northampton, Massachusetts, 1680 - 1689.

Nathan Liverant and Son Antiques, 168 South Main St., Colchester, CT 06415. (860) 537-2409, mail@liverantantiques.com, www.liverantantiques.com.

First known as Pilgrim Century, then as William and Mary, the style defining this first period of antiques is now recognized as an extension of Mannerism, which traces its roots back to about 1520 in Rome, and can be seen as a reaction to the High Renaissance. The designs used by the Mannerists split with the balance and symmetry of the Renaissance and featured activated surfaces that emphasized abstract decoration over the classically inspired naturalism of the earlier period. This style spread from Rome across Italy and eventually flourished throughout Europe and into the British Isles, as well as the American Colonies. It is evident in abstract form in this chest.
This chest features linen-fold decoration and the initials of the owner "HK." It was made for Haines Kingsley (1662-1689) of Northampton, Massachusetts, between 1680 and 1689, and recent research suggests that it was made by his kinsman, Enos Kingsley (1640-1708). Enos was the son of the family patriarch, John Kingsley (1614-1678), a woodworker who followed John Oldham to settle Wethersfield, Connecticut in 1635. John's activities as a skilled craftsman are well documented throughout the early Wethersfield records. John Kingsley eventually moved his family to Northampton and was living there by 1653. Enos Kingsley accompanied his father to Northampton as a youth and eventually became a respected woodworker in the community. He was hired by the town to construct the Northampton grist mill and a cart bridge over the Mill River.
The chest shows the Mannerist style as interpreted in the Connecticut River Valley. Through the creative use of multiple planes, Enos formed wide linen-fold moldings that activate the chest into intricate bands of three-dimensional decoration. The moldings run horizontally across the front and vertically on the sides of the chest. The front edges of the chest also feature chip-carved notched corners as well as partial linen-fold molding along the top and bottom edges. This adaptation of Mannerist design shows the affection for complex compositions of stylized patterns.
Upon close examination of the linen-fold decoration the plane chatter can still be seen and shows the exact technique of using one plane on top of the other to create the detailed molded decoration. At least three different planes were used in succession, leaving a deep central gouge flanked by a series of ogee and cove moldings. The result is a Mannerist masterpiece showing an activated surface with subtle variations that change with differing light.
The surface of the chest was never painted and is in an excellent state of preservation.
Nathan Liverant and Son thanks Donald P. White for his research on the cabinetmaker Enos Kingsley of Northampton.
Contributed by Kevin J. Tulimieri.