THE GRANT-BEARDSLEY-CANNING FAMILY VERY FINE AND RARE QUEEN ANNE FIGURED MAPLE DRESSING TABLE, WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1735

Appears to retain its original cast and engraved brass hardware and retains a dark rich crazed, possibly original, surface. 

Purportedly made for Samuel Grant (1691-1751);
Bought at the 1904 World’s Fair from Mrs. Roswell Grant of East Windsor Hill, Connecticut and a Grant family descendant by Lucy Jane Fayerweather (1847-1930) m. Morris Beach Beardsley(1849-1923);
Lucy Mary Beardsley (1879-1972), Bridgeport, Connecticut (daughter) m. Emile Collon Canning (1862–1952);
Morris Beardsley Canning (1912-1982), Bridgeport, Connecticut (son) m. Edith Lewis Miles (b. 1916);
Thence by descent through the Canning family.

St. Louis, Missouri, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Connecticut Building, 1904, no. 313.

Connecticut at the World's Fair: Report of the Commissioners from Connecticut to the Louisianan Purchase Exposition, (Hartford, CT: Press of the The Case Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1906), p. 181.

Secondary woods: yellow pine ; Proper left double bead applique adjacent to middle drawer is replaced. All of the drop finials have been replaced. Backboard and the proper right rear corner with powder post beetle damage. Proper right support block lacking. The proper left and ride sides of case with age cracks running horizontally. Appears to retain original hardware, but cotter pins are replaced. Blemishes commensurate with condition of the object.
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.

With its brilliantly figured maple, dramatic cabriole legs and apparent original surface, this important dressing table is one of only four surviving examples of the earliest form of Queen Anne dressing tables in Connecticut and it relates directly to the two most famous high chests with provincial ‘Japanning’.  The group all have very identifiable oversized disk like pad feet and side drop pendants.  As with the Winterthur example, both have a history as belonging to the Grant family of Windsor, Connecticut.  The table was listed as originally belonging to Samuel Grant in the catalogue for the Connecticut building at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.  For the most recent full analysis of this group see Thomas P. Kugelman and Alice K. Kugelman with RobertLionetti, Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphlate Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800, (Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society Museum, 2005), pp. 16-23, nos. 1 & 2.