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2015-124, Cupboard
Corner Cupboard
2015-124, Cupboard

Corner Cupboard

Date1790-1825
Attributed to James Mattison
OriginAmerica, South Carolina, Anderson County
MediumTulip poplar and yellow pine
DimensionsOH: 87"; OW: 43"; OD: 23"
Credit LineGift of Kay Ashley McCurry
Object number2015-124
DescriptionAppearance: One piece corner cupboard with canted corners; upper section: cornice molding (missing) above two doors each with a two reeded unequal sized fielded panels, almost square panel with horizontal reeding over tall vertical panel with vertical reeding; doors have scratch beaded down outside edges and a double bead on inner edge of proper right door; wooden knob on proper right door near bottom; wooden toggle holds proper right door closed; reeded mid molding around front and canted corners over single lower door with two vertical rectangular fielded panels with vertical reeding; scratch bead around perimeter of lower door; wooden knob on proper right side of door near top; wooden toggle along proper right stile to hold door closed; coved or ogee base molding above straight bracket feet with shaped inner corners and long extensions towards center of cupboard that do not meet; bracket feet on front joined with side full height extensions of feet along canted corners; originally painted, now stripped.

Construction: The back, sides and stiles are nailed to the top, upper case floor, bottom and upper and lower case shelves. Nails are a mix of wrought and cut. The yellow pine back is comprised of two tongue and groove joined boards on each side butt joined to a center board which is mitered on both sides to match the angle of the sides. The yellow pine sides are butt joined to the back and to the tulip poplar stiles, which have an integral cove molding on the joining edge.

The upper, medial and lower front rails are tenoned into the stiles. The top 4” of the mitered tulip poplar cornice board is unfinished and has nail-hole evidence of a missing cornice. The lower section of the board has integral horizontal reeding over cove molding. The cornice board is nailed to the upper edge of the sides and stiles and to the upper rail; a second molding which matches the lower section of the cornice molding is nailed to the sides, stiles and medial rail.

The mitered straight bracket feet with integral cove molding are nailed to the sides, stiles and lower front rail. The cupboard is supported by the back, sides and stiles, all of which extend to the floor.

The upper, medial and lower rails of the upper case doors and the rails of the lower case door are tenoned and pegged to the stiles. The medial stile of the lower case door is tenoned and pegged to the rails. The upper door panels of the upper case doors have horizontal reeding and the lower panels vertical reeding as do the doors of the lower case. The panels are chamfered on the front edges and rest in dados on the inside edges of the stiles and rails. Door stiles, rails, panels and bracket feet are tulip poplar.

Original iron butt hinges are inset in the door stiles and surface mounted on the case stiles. Wooden door pulls may be original. The upper and lower door latches are replacements, although the upper latch is old. Evidence of original latches indicates that, like the current latches, the upper was nailed or screwed to the medial rail in a notch in the medial molding and the lower latch was screwed or nailed to the proper right stile. Cupboard was originally painted.

Woods: tulip poplar doors, moldings, bottom board, upper cupboard shelves and feet; yellow pine back boards, lower cupboard shelf and canted corners.
Label TextThis cupboard represents a little known influence on American furniture: that of Swedish furniture designs. The tightly reeded panels and moldings seen here are a key feature on 18th- and 19th-century Swedish furniture. This cupboard and related examples have been found in the area of Anderson County, South Carolina. It descended in the Hawkins family. Polly Hawkins (1785-1860), nee Mattison, may have been related to cabinetmaker James Mattison. While James Mattison was born in Prince William County, Virginia, in 1762 and probably trained there, his family name is suggestive of a Swedish origin. After his marriage in Virginia, Mattison moved to Anderson County, South Carolina, along the Saluda River. A clock with similar reeding descended in the family of Mattison’s grandson, William Halbert Mattison (1845-1928).

The cupboard is missing its cornice and was originally painted and possible grained.
ProvenanceDescended in the Hawkins family. Probable line of descent:
James W. Hawkins (1785-1860) and Polly Mattison Hawkins (1788-1860); to son William Paris Hawkins (1810-1876) and Mary Polly Caroline Osborne Hawkins (1788-1860); to son James Mattison Hawkins (1832-1898) and Hester Ann Manning (1840-1917); to son Charles Barnes Hawkins (1882-1952) and Ola Irene Shaw Hawkins (1889-1961); to son Wilton E. Hawkins (1914-1994) and Mildred Powell Hawkins (1920-2009); to Mildred's niece Ella Powell Wilson (ca.1943-2003); to son John Wilson.