Chest of Drawers

Object Name:

Chest of Drawers

Object ID:

1978.007

Creator:

Ellis, Horace (1807-1872)

Place of Origin:

Newport, NH

Date:

1832

Description:

Chest of Drawers. Made by Horace Ellis (1807-1872) of Newport, NH, for Louisa Jackson Blanchard (1813-1872) of Cornish, NH; 1832. Mahogany, mahogany veneer, and birch, with secondary woods of pine and basswood. Empire style, straight front. Four drawers in main case with a single-layered tier above, having three drawers. Uppermost drawer in main case projects forward 3.75" beyond lower drawers and is supported at front corners by free-standing, columnar-turned colonnettes which rise from plinths created by extensions of the lower side rails. Carved hairy paw front feet with large acanthus scrolls forming face of legs. Turned rear legs with large ball feet. Flat-topped crest at back with a plinth at each end. Drawers not graduated. Drawers in main case have beaded edges. Drawers in tier are each decorated with a rectangular panel formed of light line stringing outside of which edges of drawer fronts are beveled. Two brass handles for each drawer consisting of stamped rosettes and pendent rings. A rectangular escutcheon with incurved corners, of stamped brass on each large drawer. Large carved acanthus scrolls flanking both upper main drawer and tier drawers. Beveled plinth at bottom front between colonnettes. Carved elements and plinths on crest of mahogany; rear legs birch; remainder of visible surface of case veneered with mahogany. Full bottom board. Steel locks on two central drawers and formerly on upper main drawer. Lowermost escutcheon "blind." Three pencil inscriptions: "Horace Ellis 1832" on top of lowest drawer divider; "Made by H. Ellis" / Newport NH" inside one large drawer bottom; and "Made in 1832 / by H Ellis at / Newport N H / First bought by / Louisa Jackson / Blanchard of / Cornish N H" inside bottom of central small drawer. Horace Ellis is known to have been a workman in one of the two large cabinetmaking shops operating In Newport in the 2nd quarter of the 19th century. Drawers numbered inside backs. Pencil calculation on one large drawer back.

Material:

Wood
Mahogany
Birch
Pine
Basswood
Brass

Dimensions:

H-57.125 W-47.125 D-22.5 inches

Provenance:

Chest of drawers marked that it was made in 1832 by Horace Ellis in Newport, NH, and first bought by Louisa Jackson Blanchard (in the year of her marriage to Dr. John Blanchard; m.Nov. 8, 1832) of Cornish, NH. In the 1820s, Horace Ellis had been employed in the Newport furniture shop of Willard Harris in Newport; by 1831, the Harris business was sold to the firm of Gilmore, Hall, and Dwinel.

Credit Line:

New Hampshire Historical Society Purchase

People:

Ellis, Horace (1807-1872), Blanchard, Louisa Jackson (1813-1872)