Lot 411
  • 411

A Very Fine Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Dressing Table, Philadelphia, Circa 1770

Estimate
100,000 - 200,000 USD
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Description

  • Height 31 1/4 in. by Width 35 1/2 in. by Depth 21 1/2 in.

Provenance

The Scott family of Philadelphia to Lewis Allaire Scott (1810-1896) and Frances “Fanny” Anna Wistar (1835-1913), daughter of Richard (1790-1863) and Hannah Wistar (1795-1863);
To their son, Alexander Harvey Scott (1867-1940), who married Helen Strothers (1881-1963), daughter of John and Virginia Strothers;
To his wife, Helen Scott at his death;
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1963-102-1, Bequest of Mrs. Alexander H. Scott, 1963

Literature

The Magazine Antiques (May 1965): 596

Condition

Secondary wood is poplar and Atlantic white cedar; there is a 4-inch by 1/2 inch patch to proper left drawer upper lip; there is a 5 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch patch to proper left drawer face; 4 3/4 x 3/4 inch patch to the drawer lip of the same drawer; 6 3/4 x 1/2 inch patch to proper left upper corner of top drawer and a 3/4 x 1/2 inch to proper right top corner of same drawer; carved applique to central drawer with restorations; please refer to department for images of restored sections; top re-secured with later screws on proper left and right side, now plugged with wood fill; proper left case side cracked due to shrinkage; case retains nice rich surface; knuckles on feet abraded; minor warpage to top; appears to retain its original hardware.
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.

Catalogue Note

Dressing tables served as the companion piece to a high chest of drawers in the well-appointed Colonial bedchamber and customarily stored the requisites for grooming. Inventory references indicate the top was usually kept covered with a cloth while the drawers often housed powder boxes, brushes, essences, pins and paints. Displaying the additional refinements of quarter columns, a shell drawer, leaf carving on the knees of all four legs, and claw-and-ball feet, this one represents the most expensive variation of the form available in Philadelphia during the Rococo period. It has a history in the Scott family of Philadelphia and descended to Alexander Harvey Scott (1867-1940), the son of Lewis Allaire Scott (1810-1896), a lawyer, and Fanny Wistar (1835-1913), daughter of Richard (1790-1863) and Hannah Wistar (1795-1863). A.H. Scott’s wife, Helen (Strothers) Scott (1881-1963), bequested it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art after her death in 1963.

Exceptional for its bold design, highly figured choice mahogany, and fine condition, this one derives its character from the exuberant Rococo carved decoration. On the shell-carved drawer, the carver manipulated the outer edge of the shell’s articulated fluting into a ruffle that hugs the enclosing circle and centered it with an acanthus flourish, The sinuous leafage that flanks the shell and the symmetrical spread of foliate carving seen at the shell’s lower edge, combine in easy rhythm. The elegantly skirt is shaped with scallops while the knees are densely carved with acanthus leafage, which almost extends down the leg to the claw feet.

This dressing table appears to have been produced in the same unidentified shop as an important group of Philadelphia high chests and dressing tables with very similar carved details. These include a high chest at Winterthur from the Turner family, a high chest in the Karolik Collection owned by Judge Stacy Potts of Trenton, New Jersey, and a matching high chest at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and dressing table at the Baltimore Museum of Art that belonged to Joseph Moulder of Philadelphia (see Joseph Downs, American Furniture, Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods, New York, 1952, no. 195, Edwin Hipkiss, Eighteenth-Century American Arts, Boston, 1950, no. 33, Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, no. 165 and William Voss Elder and Jayne Stokes, American Furniture, 1680-1880, from the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 1987, no. 63). A closely related shell carved drawer and claw feet are exhibited on a dressing table from this group at Bayou Bend with a history in the Percival, Zantzinger, and Helmuth families (see David Warren, et al, American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection, Houston, 1998, F128, p. 78).

For other Philadelphia dressing tables with related details, see one sold at Neal Auctions, December 6-7, 2008, lot 413, one sold at Sotheby’s, Important Americana, September 2008, lot 43, and one sold at Northeast Actions, July 31-August 2, 2009, lot 502.