Very Rare William and Mary Walnut Chest on ChestAttributed to John HeadPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaCirca 1740 Feet replaced.Height 71 1/4 in. by Width 40 3/4 in. by Depth 22 3/4 in.ProvenancePeter Deen, Nottingham, Pennsylvania.Catalogue noteThis chest-on-chest is one of two examples of its form that can be attributed to the shop of the Philadelphia cabinetmaker, John Head (1688-1754). It is illustrated and discussed by Jay Stiefel in The Cabinetmaker’s Account: John Head’s Record of Craft & Commerce in Colonial Philadelphia, 1718-1753 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Press, 2019): fig. 17.5, pp. 170-171. Stiefel notes that the term chest-on-chest does not appear in John Head’s account book. What may be his closest of the form is itemized in a debit on 10/3/23 to James Lippincot: “To a Chest of Drawers – £3-0-0/ To another payer apon a frame £5-12-0.”1 The other surviving chest-on-chest attributed to Head’s shop is in the collection of Wright’s Ferry Mansion.2 Like the present chest, it is made of walnut with a scalloped apron and ball feet (here replaced). Both chests are nearly identical in design and proportions, differing in their drawer arrangement. This chest has three short drawers in the top tier of its upper case and two short drawers in the top tier of its lower case. The Wright’s Ferry chest has long drawers in the top tiers of both its upper and lower case. A walnut chest of drawers attributed to John Head may have been made en suite with the Wright’s Ferry chest-on-chest.3 It displays a case of long drawers only and brass bail handles and escutcheons of the same distinctive pattern as the Wright’s Ferry chest. Another related maple chest of drawers attributed to John Head’s shop with a scalloped apron and ball feet is known. It is illustrated by Stiefel, who notes it was likely originally conceived as the lower case of a chest-on-chest.4 1 See Jay Stiefel, The Cabinetmaker’s Account: John Head’s Record of Craft & Commerce in Colonial Philadelphia, 1718-1753 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Press, 2019), p. 170. 2 Illustrated in ibid, figs. 17.6-17.8, pp. 172-3. 3 Ibid, fig. 17.9, p. 173. 4 Ibid, fig. 17.10, p. 174.
Very Rare William and Mary Walnut Chest on ChestAttributed to John HeadPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaCirca 1740 Feet replaced.Height 71 1/4 in. by Width 40 3/4 in. by Depth 22 3/4 in.ProvenancePeter Deen, Nottingham, Pennsylvania.Catalogue noteThis chest-on-chest is one of two examples of its form that can be attributed to the shop of the Philadelphia cabinetmaker, John Head (1688-1754). It is illustrated and discussed by Jay Stiefel in The Cabinetmaker’s Account: John Head’s Record of Craft & Commerce in Colonial Philadelphia, 1718-1753 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Press, 2019): fig. 17.5, pp. 170-171. Stiefel notes that the term chest-on-chest does not appear in John Head’s account book. What may be his closest of the form is itemized in a debit on 10/3/23 to James Lippincot: “To a Chest of Drawers – £3-0-0/ To another payer apon a frame £5-12-0.”1 The other surviving chest-on-chest attributed to Head’s shop is in the collection of Wright’s Ferry Mansion.2 Like the present chest, it is made of walnut with a scalloped apron and ball feet (here replaced). Both chests are nearly identical in design and proportions, differing in their drawer arrangement. This chest has three short drawers in the top tier of its upper case and two short drawers in the top tier of its lower case. The Wright’s Ferry chest has long drawers in the top tiers of both its upper and lower case. A walnut chest of drawers attributed to John Head may have been made en suite with the Wright’s Ferry chest-on-chest.3 It displays a case of long drawers only and brass bail handles and escutcheons of the same distinctive pattern as the Wright’s Ferry chest. Another related maple chest of drawers attributed to John Head’s shop with a scalloped apron and ball feet is known. It is illustrated by Stiefel, who notes it was likely originally conceived as the lower case of a chest-on-chest.4 1 See Jay Stiefel, The Cabinetmaker’s Account: John Head’s Record of Craft & Commerce in Colonial Philadelphia, 1718-1753 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Press, 2019), p. 170. 2 Illustrated in ibid, figs. 17.6-17.8, pp. 172-3. 3 Ibid, fig. 17.9, p. 173. 4 Ibid, fig. 17.10, p. 174.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
