Images(4)

High chest of drawers

Date1753 (dated)

Artist/Maker Henry Cliffton

Artist/Maker Thomas Carteret

Possibly by Nicholas Bernard (d. 1789)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumMahogany, tulip poplar, white cedar, and yellow pine

DimensionsOH: 98 ½"; OW: 44 ¼"; OD: 22 ½" (250.2 x 112.4 x 57.2 cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1975-154

DescriptionAppearance: Upper Case: Split-scroll pediment; carved floral rosettes; pierced and carved cartouche; flame and urn finials on fluted plinths; cornice molding consists of a cyma over a deep cove molding, the two separated by a small fillet; shell and foliage carved central drawer at top, over a three drawer rank, a two drawer rank, and three full width drawers; chamfered fluted front corners.

Lower Case: Waist molding consists of a cyma over an astragal over a cove; one full width drawer over three smaller drawers, the central drawer with shell and foliage carving; cabriole legs with foliated knee carving, and ball-and-claw feet, central carved shell on shaped skirt; shaped lower edges on side rails.

Construction: Upper Case: Sides dovetailed to bottom board, top board dadoed in above triple drawer rank; hood boards run front-to-back and are nailed into pediment; horizontal back boards nailed into rabbets; full dust boards above triple drawer rank, full dividers between drawers; three-quarter depth dust boards elsewhere, chamfered on lower edges and run into smaller dadoes on sides of case and in back of drawer blades; nailed on drawer guides, lower guides nailed to bottom board; drawers dovetailed, sides rounded on top, large saw kerfs on inside of facade, front to rear riven bottom panels chamfered on undersides, run in grooves except at flush-nailed rear; full length glue strips on sides, mitered at rear, set in with nails at front and wooden trunnels along length.

Lower Case: Top board dovetailed to case sides; three bottom boards (3/16" thick) rest in rabbets on blades and are further secured with mitered 3" long glue blocks, central bottom board set several inches lower than side boards; unlike vertical side boards on upper case, the side boards run side to side and are set into the upper leg stiles; full height dividers between bottom drawers, nailed and rabbeted into vertical blades at front and dadoed into back boards; no dust board between long drawer and lower rank, top drawer runs on central dividers and rabbeted runner/drawer guides on sides that are nailed into leg stiles at front and resting on mitered glue blocks at rear; small spacer block (1/2"D x 3/4" W and H) between runner and front blade; vertical blades through-tenoned into laminated horizontal blade, vertical glue block behind this and chamfered on upper edges.

Label TextIn Philadelphia, high chests of drawers were often made en suite with matching dressing tables. Few of these sets have survived, but recently Colonial Williamsburg was able to reunite this long separated pair (1975-154 & 1993-130). Although both forms often appear in modern living rooms, they originally were used only in bedchambers. The high chest was designed for storage of clothing and household linen, while the dressing table was employed by men and women alike for daily grooming. Despite the survival of dozens of Philadelphia high chests, this is the only known example that was signed and dated by its makers. As such it provides a perspective on the evolution of the form in eastern Pennsylvania. The chest's rococo ornament and that on the matching table demonstrate the presence of the so-called "Chippendale" style in Philadelphia prior to the publication of Thomas Chippendale's GENTLEMAN AND CABINET-MAKER'S DIRECTOR (London, 1754). Henry Cliffton, one of the makers of this suite, practiced his trade in Philadelphia from at least 1748 until his death in 1771. Near the end of his life, Cliffton described himself as a "joiner, Cabinet and Chair Maker." Although he maintained a brief partnership with noted furniture maker James Gillingham, the nature of Cliffton's relationship with Thomas Carteret, who also signed the chest, is unknown. Carteret likely was either a partner or an employee in the Cliffton shop.

The Philadelphia career of cabinetmaker Cliffton can be followed in some detail between the years 1748 and 1771. He is first identified as a joiner in an entry of August 11, 1748 in the ledger of Doctor Samuel Preston Moore. This document shows that Cliffton had purchased medicines valued at L0:15:0 and paid for them with a "fire screan for my {Moore's} wife." In 1750 he sold a clock case to John Wood for L4:0:0 and in 1759 he billed Doctor Richard Hill for "8 Mehogany Chair frames 43/ 17.4.0 and 8 bottoms for Rachels worked chairs 2.0.0, for Hill he also constructed a picture frame for Patsy's portrait by Woolaston." By 1761 Cliffton had entered into partnership with James Gillingham. The two men trained at least two apprentices--David Evans and Jonathan Kinsey. Only one bill documenting their work has been located. In 1767 they supplied Samuel Morris with a tea table. They employed the carving firm of Nicholas Bernard and Martin Jugiez; however, at present additional information on this relationship is lacking. Cliffton and Gillingham dissolved their partnership in 1768. Apparently Cliffton continued to use the shop, for his former partner removed to "the shop lately occupied by Samuel Matthews, Second Street." In 1770 Cliffton chose to move his own business to Arch Street. In an advertisement of August 13 in the PENNSYLVANIA CHRONICLE he announced that "Henry Cliffton, joiner, Cabinet and Chair Maker, Is removed into Arch-Street, opposite the gate of Friends burying-ground, where he continues to carry on the above business in all its branches, in the neatest manner; and takes this method to assure his former customers and all who may be pleased to favour him with their commands, that he will take the utmost care to execute them with fidelity and dispatch."
InscribedOn the top of the lower section of the chest in ink is "HENRY CLIFFTON/THOMAS CATERET/NOVEMBER 15, 1753."

On the top of the lower section of the chest in chalk in the opposite orientation to the ink inscription, and partially over top of it is "Th.. [m] ...e..ardson/ No 3 Prune St"

On the back of the upper case of the chest in chalk is "Tho[m]. Stewardso[n]/ N 3 Prune..."

On the back of the large drawer front in the lower case in chalk is an inscription that may read Henry Cliffton. However, the letters in the first name are not discernable and the last name can only be read "C...f..." The spacing of the letters, size of the names, and other inscription on the chest by Henry Cliffton suggests this interpretation.
MarkingsNo
ProvenanceThe high chest belonged to Hannah Hill Moore of Philadelphia, born 1727 and died 1799. In 1739, she married Dr. Samuel Preston Moore. Her neice married married the great-grandfather of Mrs. Elizabeth H. Burckes of Port Clyde, Maine (who consigned it to a dealer who in turn sold it to Colonial Williamsburg).

Line of descent according to Elizabeth H. Burckes:
Hannah Hill Moore (1723-1799) and Samuel Preston Moore (m. 1739) to Hannah's neice
Deborah Morris Smith (1760-1822) to son
Daniel B. Smith (1792-1883 or 1888) to son
Benjamin Raper Smith (1825-1904) to daughter
Anna Wharton Smith Wood (1864-1945) to daughter
Elizabeth H. Wood Burckes (1900-?).

Thomas Stewardson, whose name is inscribed in chalk on this chest was a cousin of the Smiths. He was the grandson of Guilema Maria Morris Smith (1766-1826), sister of Deborah Morris Smith (1760-1822). The matching dressing table in the Colonial Williamsburg collection (1993-130) is inscribed "Benj. R. Smith/ Care of T. Stewardson, Jr." along with "D B S[mi]th". Benjamin Raper Smith (1825-1904) and Thomas Stewardson (b.c. 1829) were second cousins. Thomas Stewardson was an attorney in Philadelphia during the mid to late 19th century. While property in his name at 3 Prune street cannot be confirmed, he did have an office just a few blocks away at 415 Prune street during the mid-1860s.

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