On View
Not on viewChests-on-chests
Artist
Joseph Hosmer
1735 - 1821
Date1782
Terms
- Chests-on-chests
- Cherry
- Eastern White Pine
- Concord (Massachusetts)
Dimensions200.51 × 101.52 × 53.3 cm (78 15/16 × 40 × 21 in.)
Credit LineAnonymous Gift (1994)
Object number1994.60
DescriptionCherry, eastern white pine. Attributed to Joseph Hosmer of Concord. Upper case: The two-board cherry sides are dovetailed to the two-board pine top and two-board pine bottom and held by the scrolled face board and uppermost backboard, which are set into rabbets and nailed through the sides. The lower three pine backboards are thinner and nailed into a rabbet which is not as deep as the one housing the top board. The three small upper drawers ride on a pine dustboard faced with cherry which doesn't butt the back but stops around two inches away. The drawer dividers are secured to the case sides with shouldered half-dovetails and are not covered by a facing strip.
Lower case: Two-board cherry sides are dovetailed to the three-board pine top and two-board pine bottom. The drawer dividers are attached to the sides with shouldered half-dovetails; drawer supports, cut off at the back at a 45-degree angle, are nailed to the sides. The underside of the bottom board is flush with the underside of the front molding; the bottom drawer runs on a rail rabbeted into the case sides and two 1 inch boards glued to the bottom board along the sides. The rear feet have two horizontal glue blocks and a single vertical glue block behind the rear element; there is no evidence of a missing vertical glue block before the rear element.
The drawers ride on the lower edge of the sides. The drawer sides are finely dovetailed to the thumb-molded fronts which are lipped on three sides; the bottoms fit into grooves cut in the front and sides and they overlap and are nailed to the back.
In addition to the chalk construction marks (carets and numerals on the backs of the drawers) the back of the top long drawer of the upper case has the chalk inscription "Louina Davis"; the back of the second long drawer has the chalk inscription" Abel Davis 1782."
The carved drawer is drilled for a later pull. The drawers are all drilled with additional holes for replacement brasses. There is insect damage to the lower edge of the bottom drawer front. The proper right rear foot is cracked and reinforced with wire nails. The case has been refinished. the crasses used in the photograph are old (courtesy of John Delaney) but not original; the finials are also old but not original.
The chest-on-chest has a better claim than most to be, in fact, the product of Hosmer's shop. The chalk inscriptions on the chest-on-chest--"Louina Davis" and "Abel Davis 1782"--establish the connection with Joseph Hosmer; in 1782, Louina Hosmer married Abel Davis, who subsequently ran an inn on the road to Carlisle. The pencil inscription "Made by Joseph Hosmer/Concord/1782" was added in the nineteenth century but may be well informed; the handwriting appears to be that of someone who learned to write in the eighteenth century.
The Museum's chest-on-chest (1994.60) and high chest (F2535) differ in too many details to support an attribution to the same shop. There are no correspondences in the molding profiles or in the shaping of the pediments, the bottoms of the upper cases are framed differently, the lower cases of the chest-on-chest and Manse desk and bookcase are framed differently, and the drawer construction is different. They do, however, have some element in common. The carved fans are quite similar; however, because they are so simple in the execution, requiring no specialized tools or skills, they do not serve well as a diagnostic feature. The two cases also share some construction features: the upper cases are framed in the same way, with the upper backboard and scrolled face board functioning as structural elements bracing the sides; and both have a two-part cornice molding. Both details are found on Boston furniture made in the 1730s and 1740s but not after midcentury; the Concord pieces in this respect are twenty years behind the time. The drawer construction of the high chest is similarly reminiscent of Boston work of the early eighteenth century.
Lower case: Two-board cherry sides are dovetailed to the three-board pine top and two-board pine bottom. The drawer dividers are attached to the sides with shouldered half-dovetails; drawer supports, cut off at the back at a 45-degree angle, are nailed to the sides. The underside of the bottom board is flush with the underside of the front molding; the bottom drawer runs on a rail rabbeted into the case sides and two 1 inch boards glued to the bottom board along the sides. The rear feet have two horizontal glue blocks and a single vertical glue block behind the rear element; there is no evidence of a missing vertical glue block before the rear element.
The drawers ride on the lower edge of the sides. The drawer sides are finely dovetailed to the thumb-molded fronts which are lipped on three sides; the bottoms fit into grooves cut in the front and sides and they overlap and are nailed to the back.
In addition to the chalk construction marks (carets and numerals on the backs of the drawers) the back of the top long drawer of the upper case has the chalk inscription "Louina Davis"; the back of the second long drawer has the chalk inscription" Abel Davis 1782."
The carved drawer is drilled for a later pull. The drawers are all drilled with additional holes for replacement brasses. There is insect damage to the lower edge of the bottom drawer front. The proper right rear foot is cracked and reinforced with wire nails. The case has been refinished. the crasses used in the photograph are old (courtesy of John Delaney) but not original; the finials are also old but not original.
The chest-on-chest has a better claim than most to be, in fact, the product of Hosmer's shop. The chalk inscriptions on the chest-on-chest--"Louina Davis" and "Abel Davis 1782"--establish the connection with Joseph Hosmer; in 1782, Louina Hosmer married Abel Davis, who subsequently ran an inn on the road to Carlisle. The pencil inscription "Made by Joseph Hosmer/Concord/1782" was added in the nineteenth century but may be well informed; the handwriting appears to be that of someone who learned to write in the eighteenth century.
The Museum's chest-on-chest (1994.60) and high chest (F2535) differ in too many details to support an attribution to the same shop. There are no correspondences in the molding profiles or in the shaping of the pediments, the bottoms of the upper cases are framed differently, the lower cases of the chest-on-chest and Manse desk and bookcase are framed differently, and the drawer construction is different. They do, however, have some element in common. The carved fans are quite similar; however, because they are so simple in the execution, requiring no specialized tools or skills, they do not serve well as a diagnostic feature. The two cases also share some construction features: the upper cases are framed in the same way, with the upper backboard and scrolled face board functioning as structural elements bracing the sides; and both have a two-part cornice molding. Both details are found on Boston furniture made in the 1730s and 1740s but not after midcentury; the Concord pieces in this respect are twenty years behind the time. The drawer construction of the high chest is similarly reminiscent of Boston work of the early eighteenth century.
Collections
- Furniture
