The Brewster-Newell Family Pilgrim Century Joined and Carved Oak and Maple 'Sunflower' Chest with Drawers, attributed to the shop of Peter Blin, Wethersfield, Connecticut, circa 1680

Retains a significant portion of it is original turned half-columns and moldings. The original key survives with a tag inscribed Key to Old Brewster Chest June 1902.  Interior of lid is inscribed  S.P. Newell Bristol, Conn. A label affixed to the inside of the till lid states Exhibition Connecticut Tercentenary and Bristol Sesquicentennial Celebration, June 10-15, 1935 Owner Roger S. Newell. Lower six inches of feet restored.

Likely descended through the Brewster family to Elisha Brewster(1751-1798) who was born in Wethersfield;
Elisha Curtis Brewster(1791-1881), born in Middletown, Connecticut, son;
Martha Judd Brewster (1832-1905) wife of Samuel Pomeroy Newell (1823-1888), daughter;
Elizabeth Naomi Newell (1856-1888) husband John Joseph Jennings (1855-1900), daughter;
Newell Jennings (1883-1965) wife Rachel Kezia Peck (1883-1972), son;
Elizabeth Newell Jennings (1911-1983), daughter;
to the current consignors

Connecticut Tercentenary and Bristol Sesquicentennial Celebration, June 10-15, 1935, Morgan Memorial, Hartford, Connecticut

Secondary wood is yellow pine. lacking gimmel hinges and the top is attached with later strap hinges. The chest is in excellent condition excluding the ended out feet.
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 very well preserved joined chest with is well carved marigold and tulip panels and delicately turned applied half columns and bosses is part of a very well document group of early joined furniture made in the vicinity of Wethersfield, Connecticut between approximately 1675 to 1705.  The group customarily called the "Sunflower" chests is most notable for its impressively carved panels with stylized tulips in the side panels and marigolds in the central panel.  For decades these pieces have been attributed exclusively to the hand of Peter Blin (d. 1725).   However the shear number of surviving pieces indicates that this decorative tradition survived for decades in and around the Wethersfield, Connecticut region and could not possibly be the work of one individual.  What is more plausible is that the French-speaking immigrant joiner Peter Blin initiated this style and it was replicated by his apprentices or fellow local joiners.  Further supporting the Wethersfield connection to this group is this chest's provenance that traces its history back to Wethersfield through the Brewster family.

The overall form is apparently a unique American design as yet no direct antecedents have been found in England nor Europe.  The exquisitely turned half columns both in large and small scale and the robust detailed carving demonstrate this group of joiners' exceptional skills.  The currently offered chest is remarkable in that it retains nearly all of its original applied maple ornament, pine top, oak cleats and wrought iron key and lock.  Quite commonly these applied decorations fall off because the nails and glue release their hold over time.

For more on "Sunflower" furniture, see Dean A. Fales, The Furniture of Historic Deerfield, (New York, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1976), pp. 166-7; Jonathan Fairbanks and Robert Trent, New England Begins: 2 Mentality and Environment, (Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1982), p.266-7; Walter A. Dyer, "The Tulip-and-Sunflower Press Cupboard," Magazine Antiques, (April 1935) reprinted in Robert F. Trent edited Pilgrim Century Furniture, (New York, Main Street/ Universe Books, 1976), pp. 122-5; Philip Zea, The Great River: Art and Society of the Connecticut Valley, 1635-1820 (Hartford, CT, 1985), cats. 78, 79, pp. 198-201; Susan Prendergast Schoelwer, "Connecticut Sunflower Furniture: A Familiar Form Reconsidered," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (Spring 1989), pp. 26-29; Robert F. Trent entry, American Furniture with Related Decorative Arts, 1660-1830: The Milwaukee Art Museum and the Layton Art Collection, (New York: Hudson Hill Press, 1991), pp. 37-9; Gerald W.R. Ward, American Case Furniture, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Art Gallery, 1988), pp. 90-5, 379-85; Martha H. Willoughby, "From Carved to Painted: Chests of Central and Coastal Connecticut, c. 1675-1725" (M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, DE, 1994), pp. 14-76; Joshua W. Lane and Donald P. White III, "Fashioning Furniture and Framing Communities: Woodworkers and the Rise of a Connecticut River Valley Town," American Furniture 2005, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Museum, 2005), pp. 146-238; Frances Gruber Safford, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: I. Early Colonial Period: The Seventeenth-Century and William and Mary Styles (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007), pp. 219-224; Rob Tarule, "Thinking in the Wood: Carving a Sunflower Chest," New England Antiques Journal, (June 2008).