THE 'LUCINDA WHEELER' VERY RARE PILGRIM CENTURY JOINED AND CARVED OAK, MAPLE AND PINE CHEST WITH TWO DRAWERS, ATTRIBUTED TO PETER BLIN (CIRCA 1675-1725), WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1685 |

the central panel initialed LW; retains majority of its original applied ornament and remnants of its original painted surface; bottom 5-inches of feet replaced.

Ricco-Johnson Gallery, New York.

Ricco-Johnson Gallery, advertisement, Magazine Antiques, 128:1, January 1983,  p. 147;
Frances Gruber Safford, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Early Colonial Period: The Seventeenth-Century and William and Mary Styles, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p.224, no. 1 (referred).

The bottom 5-inches of each foot has been ended out. Traces of red paint to the top and recesses, with blue paint appearing beneath the lid. A 6-inch piece of vertical molding is lacking from the backside of the upper panel on the proper right side of the case. It appears that only a few of the applied turnings are replaced; they consist of two egg bosses on upper drawer, likely the central small half columns on upper drawer, flanking outer proper left small half column adjacent to upper drawer, and one small half column in the center of the bottom drawer. Retains three of the original pulls and upper molding on proper left side of bottom drawer replaced. Later board nailed to back, likely in the nineteenth century, likely to prevent vermin from entering case. Retains original lid. Lock lacking but retains early key. Proper right corner moldings for both upper and lower drawers are replaced.
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.

Very few Wethersfield chests survive with initials carved into their central panel.  Fewer yet retain much of their original paint decoration. When this chest was initially published it was stated to be the chest for a Lucinda Wheeler. Current research has not yet been able to identify the presence of this person in Hartford County, Connecticut in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Six other chests survive with initials in the central panel. They include one in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art initialed "DC"; one in the collection of Historic Deerfield initialed "HW"; one in the American Museum in Britain, Bath, England initialed "W/SR" for Samuel and Rebecca Wright who were married in Glastonbury, Connecticut in 1686; one in a private collection initialed "MG"; and two other unpublished examples in private collections respectively initialed "DH" and "SB” (see Dean Fales, The Furniture of Historic Deerfield (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1976), no. 354; Victor Chinnery, Oak Furniture: The British Tradition: A History of Early Furniture in the British Isles and New England, (Woodbridge, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1979), fig. 4.211; H and R Sandor, advertisement, Magazine Antiques, vol. 124, July 1983, p. 7).