- 1012
A VERY RARE PILGRIM CENTURY GRAY-PAINTED CHIP-, COMPASS- AND PUNCH-DECORATED PINE DOCUMENT BOX, POSSIBLY BY JOHN HAWKS (1643-1721), PROBABLY DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1685 |
Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 USD
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Description
- Height 9 5/8 in. by Width 27 in. by Depth 17 3/4 in.; 24.4 by 68.6 by 45.1 cm.
the front panel initialed RD; appears to retain its original surface and gimmal hinges; lacking proper left cleat.
Provenance
Lillian Blankley Cogan Antiquary, Farmington, Connecticut, October 1980;
Vogel Collection no. 330.
Vogel Collection no. 330.
Literature
Lillian Blankley Cogan, advertisement, Magazine Antiques, vol. 110, no. 6, December 1976, p. 1185.
Condition
Appears to retain its original surface. Wear commensurate with age and use. The proper left batton is lacking from beneath the top. Age split through the top and the bottom board.
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.
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.
Catalogue Note
Document boxes were essential furniture in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century homes. They not only served as storage for the family Bible, but as seen in contemporaneous inventories, they housed important documents, money, jewels, textiles, and cutlery. The punched decoration on its façade directly relates to decoration present on six-board chests made in Deerfield, Massachusetts. One chest in the collection of Historic New England (acc. no. 1991.1474) is marked IS 1699 was found in the Sheldon House attic. It may have been for John Sheldon (1658-1733) who built the "Old Indian House" in 1698 (see Nancy Carlisle, Cherished Possessions: A New England Legacy, (Boston, MA: Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, 2003), p. 105-7, no. 30). Another chest in the collection of Historic Deerfield (acc. no. 84.003) is marked IM 1694 and may have been made for a member of the Munn or Mattoon families of Deerfield. Another related document box, marked RS 1683, once belonged to the early collector William B. Goodwin of Hartford and is illustrated in Wallace Nutting, Furniture Treasury, (New York: MacMillan Co., 1928), no. 127. One possible maker could be John Hawks (1643-1721), a carpenter-joiner who lived in Deerfield from 1680 to around 1704.