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/