Chest of Drawers

Object Name:

Chest of Drawers

Object ID:

1973.041.01

Creator:

Frothingham, Benjamin (1734-1809)

Place of Origin:

Boston, MA

Date:

1760-1780

Description:

Chest of Drawers. Attributed to Benjamin Frothingham (1734-1809), Charlestown, MA; c. 1760. Chippendale style, with history of belonging to Sarah Walker Rolfe Thompson (1739-1792). Serpentine with block front. Mahogany, with pine secondary wood. Four drawers, graduated (top to bottom: 4.4", 5", 5.9", and 6.25"). Drawer fronts are made from solid pieces of mahogany, carved into the serpentine block-front shape. Cut brass escutcheon and pair of matching bail drawer pulls on each drawer (note that bottom drawer escutcheon differs slightly from the others, and that right drawer pull on same drawer has a key hole opening). Escutcheons and drawer pulls attached with brass nuts. Locks in top two drawers only. Cock beading on drawer surrounds. Drawers are of dovetail construction; each drawer appears to have new runners; drawer tops extend slightly above the height of the drawer sides; tops of drawer sides are grooved. Each drawer is numbered, 1-4.
Blocked bracket feet, with molded bracket (broken on left side) and center pendant (which is asymmetrical). Top board conforms to the serpentine block-front shape, extending beyond the drawers. Bottom board present; dustboards not present. Number "566" on rear panel. "Chatham Pines" stamped in rear edge of top board.

Material:

Wood
Mahogany
Pine
Brass

Dimensions:

H-31.25 W-35.25 D-21 inches

Provenance:

Referred to by donor's father, Arthur Sturtevant, as the "Downing Chest" (see notes field for transcription). First probably owned by Sarah Walker Rolfe Thompson (1739-1792) and either her first or second husband, Benjamin Rolfe or Benjamin Thompson (later Count Rumford). The chest was at the Rolfe-Rumford House (erected 1764) in Concord, NH, when acquired by coachmaker Lewis Downing (1792-1873; it may have been acquired at an auction of the effects of Countess Rumford, as was chair 1967.518).
Next the chest was bequeathed in 1917 by Lewis Downing's daughter, Ellen Downing Hill (1828-1917), to the donor's grandmother, Lucy Johnson Sturtevant (Lewis Downing was guardian of Lucy Sturtevant's mother, Lucretia Abbott, 1812-1899).
The chest came into donor's possession in 1953, when his father, Arthur, died.

Credit Line:

Gift of Foster E. Sturtevant, in Memory of Arthur Foster and Mabel Sinclair Sturtevant

People:

Thompson, Sarah Walker (1739-1792), Rolfe, Benjamin (1710-1771), Thompson, Benjamin (1753-1814), Downing, Lewis (1792-1873), Sturtevant, Lucy J. (1839-1920), Frothingham, Benjamin (1734-1809), Sturtevant, Arthur F. (1864-1953), Sturtevant, Foster E. (1898-1979), Hill, Ellen Downing (1828-1917)