EXCEPTIONAL CHIPPENDALE CARVED CHERRYWOOD BONNET-TOP HIGH CHEST OF DRAWERS, Woodbury, Connecticut, circa 1780

Appears to retain its original surface, cast brass hardware and carved and turned flame finials.

George Augustus and Estelle Farrel Goss, Middlebury and Guilford, Connecticut

Chicago, Illinois, Chicago Worlds Fair, 1893

Edward S. Cook Jr., Ann Y. Smith, Derin Bray, Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture & Furniture Makers, 1780-1830, (Litchfield, Connecticut: Litchfield Historical Society, 2008), D.10 on included disk.

Proper right base for finial now with a break and slightly loose. Second drawer from bottom of upper portion is lacking a lock. Bottom drawer of upper portion with a 2 inch by 1/4 inch patch to drawer lip. Appears to retain some of its original cast brass hardware. Two old holes in the back of the backboards of the lower section. Scratches, marks, and abrasions throughout consistent with age and use. Interestingly retains original scribe lines indicating conceived shape of side skirts.
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 impressive high chest drawers, retaining its original finials, hardware and finish, relates directly to another example that descended in the Stiles family of Southbury, Connecticut and resides in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg.  Edward S. Cook Jr. in Making Furniture in Preindustrial Americana, has noted that the upper most drawer’s resemblance to a fielded panel, and the full-depth cornice molding on the inside of the crown echo characteristics of Rhode Island and New London county, Connecticut furniture.  Structural similarities suggest that the master of this particular Woodbury shop trained in the Norwich-Colchester area or in an area that sent mature joiners to both Norwich-Colchester and Woodbury. Another related high chest lacking the bonnet drawer is illustrated by Ann Y. Smith in Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture, fig. 5, p. 38.

See Barry A. Greenlaw, New England Furniture at Williamsburg, (Williamsburg, Virginia: The Colonial Williamsburg foundation, 1974), no. 82, Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Fiddlebacks and Crooked-backs: Elijah Booth and Other Joiners in Newtown and Woodbury, 1750-1820, (Waterbury, Connecticut: Mattatuck Historical Society, 1982), fig. 32, pp. 79-83, Edward S. Cook Jr., Making Furniture in Preindustrial Americana: The Social Economy of Newtown and Woodbury, Connecticut, (Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 1996), fig. 46, pp. 182-3 and Edward S. Cook Jr., Ann Y. Smith, Derin Bray, Please Any Taste: Litchfield County Furniture & Furniture Makers, 1780-1830, (Litchfield, Connecticut: Litchfield Historical Society, 2008), fig. 5, p. 38.