A Fine Queen Anne Carved and Highly Figured Mahogany Dressing Table, Salem, Massachusetts circa 1770

Appears to retain its original hardware.

Raymond and Stearns Families of Malden, Massachusetts;
Israel Sack, Inc., New York

Central section of front rail of skirt with patches, secondary wood is white pine, knee returns restored, legs with cracks and breaks at junction of case.
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.

This dressing table follows a popular Essex County, Massachusetts case furniture pattern characterized by an overhanging top, fan-carved drawer, shaped apron, cabriole legs, and pad feet. Several of its design features pinpoint an origin in Salem, such as the distinctively shaped front and side aprons with a pierced diamond, the sharply arised knees, scrolled knee brackets, and high pads of the feet. The exuberant outline of the apron and attenuated boldly serpentine cabriole legs distinguish this one as a particularly sophisticated example of the form.

Though similar to Boston work, Salem case pieces often surpass their Boston counterparts in their level of fine craftsmanship. In the present dressing table, the cabinetmaker adopted a Boston case shape but added features of more ambitious design. For example, the apron displays an outline of reverse curves instead of the flattened arches typically found on Boston pieces. This shaping has been further embellished with a diamond cutout surmounted by a radiating fan. The cabriole legs were fashioned with a deeply serpentine profile, peaked knees and pad feet to visually lighten the case.

A nearly identical dressing table in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago with the chalk inscription "Stephen" descended in the Broughton family of Salem, Massachusetts.¹  It is illustrated as a "masterpiece" in The New Fine Points of Furniture by Albert Sack.²

Two Salem flat top high chests with diamond cuts and similarly conceived shells, skirt profiles, legs and feet include one illustrated by Sack and one in the collection of Yale University.³  Three other related Salem high chests with bonnet tops and claw feet include one owned by Mrs. Charles Hallam Keep exhibited at the Girl Scout Loan Exhibition, one at Historic New England with a history in the Sanderson family of Salem, and one in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.⁴

¹ See Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Vol. IV, P3871, p. 1012.
² See Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture, New York, 1993, p. 209.
³ See Sack, Vol. II, no. 747, p. 306 and Gerald Ward, American Case Furniture, New Haven, 1988, no. 134, p. 258.

⁴ See Sack, Vol. III, no., 1420, p. 631, Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era, Boston, 1984, no. I-27, p. 28, and Art Institute of Chicago, acc. 1984.714.