A Rare Chippendale Cherrywood Reverse Serpentine Chest of Drawers, made by Oliver Deming (1774-1825), Wethersfield, Connecticut, circa 1790-1800

Appears to retain original hardware. Inscribed Oliver Deming in graphite on the inside bottom of the top drawer.

Skinner, Bolton, Massachusetts, June 13, 1992, sale 1453, lot 29.

Kugelman, Thomas P., and Alice K. Kugelman. “The Hartford Case Furniture Survey.” Maine Antique Digest 21, no. 3 (March 1993): p. 37A, fig. 6.
Kugelman, Thomas P. and Alice K. Kugelman with Robert Lionetti. Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society Museum, 2005, cat. 175, pp. 383-4.

Secondary wood is white pine. Refinished. Appears to retain its original hardware. Fine overall condition.
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 oxbow bureau was made by Oliver Deming (1774-1825) of Wethersfield, Connecticut. It is part of a group of very traditional late Chippendale bureaus made in Wethersfield that show the influence of the Eliphalet Chapin shop in East Windsor. Oliver Deming was born and trained in Wethersfield with an unidentified cabinetmaker, most likely Israel Porter (b. 1759) who worked as a journeyman in Eliphalet Chapin’s shop in the late 1780s.  In the 1790s, Deming joined his brother Josiah (1775-1850) in business in New Haven, where he spent the remainder of his career.

Oliver Deming probably made this oxbow bureau when he was a journeyman in Wethersfield. It is virtually identical to other bureaus made by him and similar to many produced by Chapin school cabinetmakers.  It displays a conservative continuation of Chapin school designs, similarly featuring inset three-part fluted quarter columns. It differs from Chapin shop work in the above-edge molding of the top, scribe-molded drawer fronts, and tall splayed ogee feet without an astragal molding on the supporting base.  The ring and bail brasses indicate a production in the 1790s.

Several other nearly identical oxbow bureaus are known, all demonstrating a consistency of execution common in Wethersfield and East Windsor but lacking the finesse of the Chapin shop.  One in a private collection that descended through the Deming family is inscribed “Oliver Deming / Wethersfield / July 17^th 1796.” Another descended in the family of Sarah Saltonstall (1754-1829) and Daniel Buck (1744-1808) of Wethersfield. A third with identical dimensions and design features has no inscription or family history. A fourth with slightly smaller dimensions probably first belonged to Lucy Lowery (1771-1852) and Unni Robbins (1765-1818) of Wethersfield, who married in 1791.   A fifth example dated December 1794 is closely related although slightly wider in proportion and embellished with a gadrooned molding between the front feet (see Kugelman, Thomas P. and Alice K. Kugelman with Robert Lionetti. Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800. Hartford, 2005, cat. 175A, p. 384; other related examples cited in notes 2-6).