The General Ebenezer Huntington Federal Sideboard, Attributed to Thomas Burling (w. 1769-1802), New York, Circa 1790

General Ebenezer Huntington (1754-1834), Norwich, Connecitcut;

to his son, George Washington Huntington (1799-1870), New Orleans, Louisiana;

to his niece, Sarah Huntington Perkins (1839-1917), Norwich, Connecticut;

given to her cousin Roger Wolcott (1877-1965), Milton, Massachusetts;

Mr. Louis Joseph Auctioneer, Boston, Massachusetts, Estate of the Late Roger Wolcott, March 3, 1966, lot 524.

Roger Wolcott, Family Jotting, (Boston, MA: Privately printed, D.B. Updike, The Merrymount Press, 1939), p. 68.

Thomas Burling, a New York-based cabinetmaker, was well-known during his time for both his Chippendale and his Federalist style furniture. Thomas Jefferson purchased pieces from Burling for Monticello, as did George Washington for the President’s House in Philadelphia and for the White House.

This sideboard is likely from the period of 1773 to 1793 when Thomas Burling was based out of no. 36 Beekman Street in New York City. After Burling finished his apprenticeship with Samuel Prince in 1769, he moved to his own shop on Beekman Street, or as it was then known, Chapel Street. When he fled New York City during the Revolution for Newburgh, New York, Burling worked under the name “Carter and Burling”, and it was not until 1785 that he began to produce furniture again with his Beekman Street label. Thomas and his son, Samuel, under the label “Thomas Burling and Son Cabinetmakers,” operated out of 36 Beekman Street together in 1791, but in 1792 Samuel moved on his own to 20 Gold Street.¹ This piece probably comes from prior to 1791 when Thomas still worked out of 36 Beekman.

Another similar sideboard, labeled with the no. 36 Beekman Street address, and housed in the New York State Museum, has the same design mix of Chippendale, with the straight front and bail handles, and Hepplewhite, with the tapered legs ending in spade feet.² Another very similar sideboard labeled by burling sold in these rooms, Important Americana, January 24, 2014, sale 9100, lot 340.

¹ Jane Thompson-Stahr, The Burling Books: Ancestors and Descendants of Edward and Grace Burling, Quakers, 2001, p. 415.

² John L. Scherer, New York Furniture: The Federal Period 1788-1825, (Albany, NY: New York State Museum,1988), p. 8.