A FINE AND RARE PILGRIM CENTURY JOINED AND CARVED OAK AND MAPLE 'SUNFLOWER' CHEST WITH TWO DRAWERS, ATTRIBUTED TO THE SHOP OF PETER BLIN, WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1680 |

retains its original top and full height to feet; several applied moldings replaced.

Ginsburg & Levy, New York, February 1970;
Vogel Collection no. 72.

Later paint around the panels. The bosses and turned columns are replaced. The top drawer appears to have been patched on both sides. The proper top left corner of the lower drawer has a 1-inch triangular loss. The bottom back board has been replaced. There is an associated crack that has been re-glued to the right-hand side of that panel, approximately one inch wide and as tall as the panel. On the left-hand side of the panel there is a 1-inch by 21-inch patch along the inside and back of the stile.
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 joined chest, with its well-carved marigold and tulip panels and delicately turned applied half columns and bosses, is part of a very well document group of early joined furniture made in the vicinity of Wethersfield, Connecticut between approximately 1675 to 1705.  The group routinely called the "Sunflower" chest is most notable for its carved panels with stylized tulips in the side panels and marigolds in the central panel. For decades these pieces have been attributed exclusively to the hand of Peter Blin (d. 1725). However, the sheer number of surviving pieces indicates that this decorative tradition survived for decades in and around the Wethersfield, Connecticut region and cannot be the work of one individual.  More likely is that Peter Blin initiated this style and it was replicated by his apprentices or fellow local joiners. For additional information on seventeenth-century Wethersfield joinery, see Susan Schoelwer, "Connecticut Sunflower Furniture: A Familiar Form Reconsidered," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin, Spring 1989, pp. 21-38.