The Rowe Family Very Fine and Rare Chippendale Carved Mahogany Reverse-Serpentine Chest of Drawers, Essex County, Massachusetts, Circa 1785

together with a pair of painted leather fire buckets; appears to retain its original surface and cast brass hardware; (3 pieces).

According to family history, this chest and accompanying fire buckets descended in the Rowe family of Boston, Massachusetts likely from John Rowe (1715-1787) or his nephew John (Jack) Rowe (1765-1812);
Thence by descent to a family member in Belmont, Massachusetts;
Carl W. Stinson, Inc., Reading, MA, December 2, 2004, lot 37a.

Carl W. Stinson, Inc. advertisement for the December 2, 2004 auction. The chest is illustrated as “Charlestown Chippendale Serpentine Chest descended in the Rowe Family. Original unrestored condition.”;
Jackie Sideli, “Chest Tops Stinson Sale,” Maine Antique Digest (March 2005): 19-E.

Secondary wood: white pine For further information please contact the Americana Department at americana@sothebys.com or by phone at 212-606-7130.
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.

Of rare diminutive size and with finely articulated bold claw feet, this serpentine chest of drawers represents an expensive case form made in the Colonial Boston area during the eighteenth century. It has survived with its original brass hardware and an old dry surface. According to family history, the chest descended in the Rowe family of Boston until a family member sold it at auction in 2004. Two fire buckets with their original paint and inscribed “J. Rowe” were sold by the Rowe descendant in the same sale and accompany this lot. With their inscription and Masonic imagery, the fire buckets were likely originally the property of John Rowe (1715-1787), the wealthy merchant, conservative Whig and diarist of Boston. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and became a Grand Master of the order in 1768. While this chest could also have been his property, it could have also been originally owned by John (Jack) Rowe (1765-1812), the nephew and namesake of John Rowe who was adopted by John and his wife Hannah (1725-1805) at age 7.  Young John was the son of Jacob Rowe, John Rowe’s brother, who emigrated to Quebec, Canada around 1741. Young John graduated from Harvard in 1783 and was a classmate of Harrison Gray Otis and William Prescott. He married in Gloucester in 1792 and represented the town in the House of Representatives from 1796 to 1805. In 1806, he represented Essex County in the Senate. He later lived in Quincy, where he died in 1812.

After the elder John’s death in 1787 and his wife’s death in 1805, Jack Rowe and his family inherited some of their belongings including John Rowe’s diary and a Boston bombe slant front desk that descended through the Jack Rowe branch of the family before being sold at auction in 2004. It later sold in these rooms, Important Americana, January 19, 20, & 21, 2007, lot 363.