Images(4)

Chest of drawers

Date1793-1795 (dated 179?)

Maker John Townsend

OriginAmerica, Rhode Island, Newport

MediumMahogany, maple, chestnut, tulip poplar, and brass

DimensionsOH: 34 5/8" OW:36 3/8" OD:20"

Credit LineGift of Dr. & Mrs. Warren Koontz

Object number1977-225

DescriptionBlock front chest of drawers with four graduated blocked drawers, the upper most with two convex carved shells flanking a central concave carved shell; the center of each shell has a cross-hatched basket motif with petals above; blocked ogee bracket feet; bead around drawer openings; molded top; bail and rosette drawer pulls, oval keyhole escutcheons.
Label TextThough it was produced in several New England localities, block-front case furniture reached the zenith of its development in Newport, Rhode Island, and has since become the hallmark of that city's eighteenth-century cabinetmaker industry. The carved shells provide a successful terminus for the blocking, and they were widely used by Newport craftsmen on a variety of furniture forms, from the desk and bookcase to the high chest. Another example of the motif may be seen on Colonial Williamsburg's call case clock by William Claggett of Newport.

Chests of drawers were popular vehicles for the block and shell treatment in Newport, and a number of them survive. This example, which bears the printed label of John Townsend, is a successful combination of swirl grained mahogany and fine carving. Dated to the 1790s, it is, except for the brasses, virtually identical to labeled Townsend chests of the 1760s.
MarkingsPrinted paper label inside top drawer: "MADE BY/ JOHN TOWNSEND/ NEWPORT". Inscribed in ink after "NEWPORT" "179[?]" (the last digit of the date is not discernable. It has been read as 1790 and as 1794.) Morrison Heckscher's study of John Townsend's work has revealed that Townsend used this printed label between 1793 and 1797.