Images(5)

Cellaret

Date1800-1830

Attributed to Joseph Freeman

OriginAmerica, North Carolina, Gates County

MediumBlack walnut and yellow pine.

DimensionsOH: 39 7/8" OW: 24 1/8" OD: 15 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1941-5

DescriptionAppearance: Upper section has flat, substantial lid, rectangular in shape with battened ends and applied, molded edge; top hinged at rear; straight sides dovetailed at corners; base has raised, molded edge to accommodate upper section; straight sides; narrow, rectangular slide with battened ends; front edge of slide has pair small, brass pulls; single drawer with molded edge and pair of brass pulls; four, tapering legs, square in section; inlaid lozenge-shaped boxwood escutcheons around keyholes on top and drawer.

Construction: Tongue-and-groove battens secured with wooden pins frame the ends of both the lid and the slider. The lid and waist moldings are sprig-nailed in place. The front and back boards of the case are half-blind dovetailed to the sides, while the bottom board is flush-nailed in place. The case rests within the waist molding and on top of the kickers for the slider, which are wrought-nailed to the sides of the frame. Similarly nailed-on runners are positioned below the slider; rabbeted runners wrought-nailed to the sides support the drawer. The frame is mortised and tenoned together and secured with pins. On the inside of the frame, the top edges of the legs are slightly chamfered. The bottom of the dovetailed drawer is chamfered and set into grooves on the front and sides. It is flush-nailed at the rear. Additional support comes from small, evenly spaced glue blocks. The upper leaves of the lid hinges are set against leather spacers or washers.

Materials: Black walnut top, moldings, case sides, case front, side rails, blades, drawer front, slider front, legs, and pins; yellow pine case back, back rail, drawer runners, drawer kickers, slider, drawer sides, drawer back, and drawer bottom.
Label TextBecause early nineteenth-century southern bottle cases vary so little in appearance, it is often impossible to attribute them to individual artisans or even to specific locales. One of the few exceptions is this black walnut bottle case, which is confidently ascribed to Joseph Freeman (1772-1842). From the early 1790s until his death, Freeman worked concurrently as a farmer, carpenter, and cabinetmaker in Gates County, North Carolina, just below the Virginia border. Freeman's two-story frame house built in 1821 still stands on the family farm, and some of his account books remain in family hands. In addition to the present bottle case, five other directly related Freeman examples are known. Of those with recorded histories, two were found in the vicinity of Gates County, and two were owned in nearby southeastern Virginia. The case featured here, which remained in the Freeman family until 1937 when it was purchased by the antiques dealer who later sold it to CWF, is key to the attribution of all the Freeman pieces.

Decoratively restrained and fitted with hardware of an earlier style, this bottle case emulates the neat-and-plain fashion of much urban southern furniture. Diagonally cut boards on the front and crotch-wood on the sides suggest that Freeman sought to enhance the appearance of his otherwise straightforward designs. The artisan's close attention to structural integrity is revealed by the skillfully executed mortise-and-tenon joinery of the frame, which is neatly pinned throughout. The flat lid and the slider on the Freeman bottle case are framed at either side with battens designed to combat warpage. His distinctive double-beaded lid moldings are mitered at the front corners and sprig-nailed in place, as is the waist molding. Most Freeman bottle cases display inlaid diamond-shaped birch escutcheons.

The majority of southern bottle cases have interior dividers set into dadoes in the front, sides, and back of the case. Freeman pieces instead have the dividers suspended from notched strips nailed to the inside of the case near the top. Equally novel is the nature of the divisions. Freeman usually provided the typical series of equally sized square compartments for what were sometimes called "gin" bottles, but on one example he inserted a wider center section with slots for decanters and stemmed drinking glasses. Although the partitions inside the CWF bottle case are missing, oxidation reveals that it, too, had a wider center division that probably supported wineglasses.

Other forms attributed by MESDA field researchers to Freeman include a one-drawer table and a yellow pine corner cupboard, the latter referred to in his papers as a "Bofat." Freeman's account books for 1805 to 1842 document the production of fifteen small tables, ten chests, nine cupboards, two bedsteads, six dressing tables, nine dining tables, two clock cases, and more than fifty coffins. An 1808 entry notes the completion of a "Walnut Bottle Case" for £3. Many of these pieces were sold on credit, a common occurrence in the agrarian South. Freeman was paid not only in cash but with bartered goods such as blankets and other textiles. At his death in 1842, Freeman's estate included a well-furnished house, land, and a wide range of farm implements. He also owned at least eighteen slaves, most of whom worked the farm. Several may also have assisted in the furniture-making operation. Freeman left a "parcel of Carpenters Tools in Chest," pine and walnut planks, and several "old paint Cegs" as well. The woodworking tools were bequeathed to his son John, who may have been a part-time professional woodworker.

InscribedNone.
MarkingsNone.
ProvenanceAccording to family tradition, the bottle case was originally made and owned by Joseph Freeman (1772-1842). It descended with the family farm in Gates Co., N. C., to his son, John Freeman (1801-1855); to his son, Edmund James Freeman (1844-1917); to his son, E. Lloyd Freeman, by whom it was sold to Littleton, N. C., antiques dealer Willis Stallings in 1937. CWF acquired the piece from Stallings in 1941.