another 17th century chest comes out of hiding

I got a note from my friend Erik Gronning recently about this chest that Sotheby’s has for auction in January. It’s part of the group I studied with Jennie Alexander and Bob Trent eons ago – that we eventually published in 1996. We attributed them to the Savell family in Braintree, Massachusetts; William Savell and two of his sons, John and William. At that time, we had found about 10 chests in this group – and by now there’s probably been about another 6 or more. I’ve lost track in my head, but I do have notebooks with the details. I’m just not digging them out right now – or I’ll lose the morning down a rabbit hole.

This one is, to me, a bit frustrating. Mostly because some moron cut the two middle panels to become a cupboard – it’s not unusual – and it could be worse. Often when they did that, they secured the lid permanently. Thankfully, this time the lid is still function as a lid – AND it’s the original chestnut lid. Very rare survivor.

So other than the transmogrification this one is in prime condition. I’ve not seen it in person, but Erik sent me some nice photos. One of the features of this shop is their strict adherence to a format – they varied very little from one chest to the next. If you went to their shop to buy a chest, this is what you got. We’ve only seen 2 chests from them that were made without drawers…but otherwise this is it.

I made one as a video series a couple of years ago.

It sold and I was glad to get the money – but I liked the chest too – if I had room, I’d make myself one of the two-drawer versions next.

braintree chest w drawers

links:

auction listing: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/important-americana-furniture-folk-art-silver-chinese-export-art-and-prints/a-pilgrim-century-chest-with-drawer-attributed-to

video series: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/follansbeejoinedchest

set of plans: https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/carving-drawings-plans/

two boxes and knitted wear for sale

oak box, strapwork pattern Dec 2023

I know many of you here see my other blog, but in case some do not – I just posted the last two boxes for the year on the substack blog – https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/p/last-2-boxes-for-2023

detail, carved & painted box, Dec 2023

And Maureen has posted her latest round of knittted wear and eco-prints – so that’s what all her needle-clicking amounts to – it’s like magic to me.

shawl, Dec 2023

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

the latest from my shop

I just posted a couple of loft items for sale on the substack blog – a carved panel and two carved bowls. I wrote in the post – not new, not used. That post is open to all so you can see it at this link – https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/p/for-sale-from-the-loft

The loft was the cleanest it’s been in about 2 years. Only stayed that way for 24 hours. The next day I got a stash of clear wide pine boards for box bottoms and lids. So I chopped it all up to 4′ lengths and stickered it in that empty space you see in that opening photo.

mostly 8-footers

Those boards are mostly 15″-17″ wide and most are just about perfect. Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) is one of my favorite woods – as it was for the 17th century joiners in this area too. It’s the most common secondary wood in case furniture around here in eastern Massachusetts. I use it for box bottoms and lids, chest & drawer bottoms. Often rear panels are pine too – both the upper and lower case of this cupboard I made have pine panels.

PF cupboard, 2023, rear view

I’ve been finishing up another two boxes – one with a carved lid, one with a plain lid (like most boxes). Those will be posted for sale the end of this week on the substack blog. I carved a lid like this last month – and liked the effect so much I went for one more. But they are a ton of work. I count myself as a fast carver – but not this stuff. These strapwork patterns use a lot of tools, a lot of careful layout. This lid took about 10 hours to carve. Size is approximately 14″ x 24″.

carved lid, strapwork design

Most of the writing & photography action from my shop has migrated to the substack blog – many of you already know that. I appreciate the support people have shown me as I’ve moved my main focus over there. I first saw Chris Schwarz writing his new blog there and followed suit. And now, because people are shelling out hard-earned cash to read it, I’ve tried to make it worth their time and money. I’ll still keep at this blog from time to time – but the more frequent posts are over there. Looking at the site, I counted 12 posts for the month of November -two of them were just to sell stuff – mine & my wife’s – but that leaves ten articles for the month, to give you an idea of how much content is there. (11 for October – so every 3 days about) It might be more than some can stand!

If you’d like to give (or get someone to give you) a gift subscription to it here’s the link to do that: https://peterfollansbeejoinerswork.substack.com/subscribe?gift=true

After these boxes are done, I have some research to work on – preparation for making my version of a “dressing” box like this one, related to the cupboards I made in the last 2 years. A 17th-century form I’ve never made. This one’s from Winterthur, I’ll change a thing here & there, so not a direct copy. But I like the form. It’s small – about 19″-20″ high, similar width. A box with compartments above and three drawers below.

And chairs and more. You’ll see.