- 1530
VERY FINE AND RARE CHIPPENDALE CARVED AND FIGURED MAHOGANY BLOCK-FRONT CHEST-ON-CHEST, POSSIBLY BENJAMIN FROTHINGHAM, JR. (1734-1809), BOSTON OR CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1775 |
估價
60,000 - 120,000 USD
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招標截止
描述
- Height 88 1/4 in. by Width 43 3/4 in. by Depth 22 1/4 in.
appears to retain the original cast brass hardware; proper back left foot replaced.
Condition
Overall fine condition. Wear commensurate with age and use. Appears to retain its original finials and hardware. The central finial plinth was previously cracked and reglued. There are vertical age cracks to the sides of the top and lower case, consistent with age. There is a 1/8" shrinkage patch to the top of each of the drawers in the lower case. Proper back left foot replaced. The proper front left foot's front facing was previously cracked and reglued approximately 4 inches from the bottom, and there is an associated 1" patch through the bottom of the facing. The proper front right, side foot facing appears to have been cracked and reglued at the junction with the case. Secondary wood: White pine
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.
拍品資料及來源
Surviving with its original finials and hardware, this magnificent chest-on-chest is representative of a regional case form made in the Boston-area and on the North Shore of Massachusetts, with an upper case of flat drawers flanked by fluted pilasters combined with a block-fronted lower case. Although it follows the classic type, is exceptional for its richly conceived design, stately vertical proportions, and use of choice highly figured mahogany. This chest-on-chest is attributed to Benjamin Frothingham, Jr. (1734-1809) of Charlestown on the basis of a chest-on-chest displaying his label with a very similar overall configuration. That chest descended in the Fiske family of Weston, Massachusetts and is currently in a private collection.1 Both chests are of the same form with fluted pilasters, a blocked lower case, a related drawer configuration, and identical pilaster plinths. Many of the same parallels are displayed on a chest-on-chest with Frothingham’s signature that descended in the Cabot-Perkins family of Boston from either Samuel Cabot, Sr. (1758-1819) or Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764-1854).2 A chest of drawers with Frothingham’s label exhibits closely related blocking, knee returns and bracket feet.3 A carved shell similar to the one articulated on the present chest is found on an oxbow-front chest-on-chest attributed to Frothingham illustrated as a “masterpiece” in Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture, New York, 1993, p. 122.
Born in 1734, Frothingham may have established his own business by 1753, the year he made the desk-and-bookcase with his signature in the collection of the U.S. Department of State.4 A member of the First Church of Charlestown and a founding member of The Ancient Fire Society, he served in the military during the war, attaining the rank of Major, and joined the Society of the Cincinnati. His workshop was destroyed during the War and likely rebuilt afterwards, since the years following the War appear to have been his most productive. Most of his surviving furniture, including this chest-on-chest, appears to date from this period.
1 See Richard Randall, “Benjamin Frothingham,” in Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, 1974, fig. 1, p. vi.
2 Christie’s, Important American Furniture, Silver, Prints, Folk Art, and Decorative Arts, January 16, 1999, sale 9054, lot 702.
3 See Randall, no. 170, p. 244.
4 See Clement Conger and Alexandra Rollins, Treasures of State, New York, 1991, no. 13, pp. 94-5.
Born in 1734, Frothingham may have established his own business by 1753, the year he made the desk-and-bookcase with his signature in the collection of the U.S. Department of State.4 A member of the First Church of Charlestown and a founding member of The Ancient Fire Society, he served in the military during the war, attaining the rank of Major, and joined the Society of the Cincinnati. His workshop was destroyed during the War and likely rebuilt afterwards, since the years following the War appear to have been his most productive. Most of his surviving furniture, including this chest-on-chest, appears to date from this period.
1 See Richard Randall, “Benjamin Frothingham,” in Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, 1974, fig. 1, p. vi.
2 Christie’s, Important American Furniture, Silver, Prints, Folk Art, and Decorative Arts, January 16, 1999, sale 9054, lot 702.
3 See Randall, no. 170, p. 244.
4 See Clement Conger and Alexandra Rollins, Treasures of State, New York, 1991, no. 13, pp. 94-5.