An Important Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Bombé Chest of Drawers, Boston, Massachusetts circa 1770

John S. Walton, Inc., New York

secondary wood is white pine; proper right front foot facing cracked; minor blemishes and scratches to surface; carrying handles added at a later date; hardware period but not original to the piece; holes present on bottom board where 1a-brackets were present at one time.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Made of highly figured mahogany, this bombé chest of drawers represents an iconic Boston-area case form. Because of the complexity of shaping the case, bombé furniture of this type represented the most expensive production of the Boston cabinet industry and, as such, served as status symbols for the local gentry.

The boldly striped sculptural façade of this chest is enhanced by large Rococo imported brasses, the placement of which further emphasizes the contour of the case. Its refined workmanship is characteristic of the English inspired bombé construction of mid-18^th century Boston in the straight sides of the drawers, orientation of the swelled sides at the two lower drawers, and elongated knee brackets. While the drawers follow the traditional straight-sided construction, their outward appearance of curved sides allows only the drawer fronts to follow the bombé bulge of the sides. Several other related bombé chests are known with common drawer construction, ogee bracket feet, center drops, similarly positioned base rails and base molding that leave the rails exposed. One chest is at Historic New England.¹ Another was sold in the Lansdell Christie Collection at Sotheby Parke Bernet, sale 3422, October 1972, lot 60. Two others were sold at Parke Bernet, one in 1957, sale 1776, lot 91 and the other in the Garbisch Collection, sale H2, May 1980, vol. 4, lot 1159. Two additional examples have been advertised in The Magazine Antique while one from a private collection in Michigan appears illustrated in Americana, Midwest Collectors Choices, 15 and no. 31.²

A bombé desk-and-bookcase with similar shaping and drawer construction is at Winterthur Museum.³  Another example with especially tall ogee bracket feet was originally owned by Martin Gay (1726-1809) and bears an attribution to Gibbs Atkins.⁴

¹ See Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era, 1984, no. 18, pp. 151-4.
² See Israel Sack advertisement, August 1976 and Ginsburg & Levy advertisement, February 1950, p. 101.
³ See Nancy Richards and Nancy Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur, 1997, no. 209, pp. 446-9.
⁴ See Gilbert Vincent, "The Bombé Furniture of Boston," Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, Boston, 1976, fig. 131, p. 187.