Sideboard
- Object Name:
- Sideboard
- Object ID:
- 1982.025.01
- Creator:
- Judkins & Senter -- Cabinetmaker; Judkins, Jonathan (1780-1844) -- Cabinetmaker; Senter, William (1783-1827) -- Cabinetmaker
- Place of Origin:
- Portsmouth, NH
- Date:
- circa 1815
- Description:
- Sideboard. Made by Judkins & Senter, Portsmouth, NH, c. 1815. Primary woods: mahogany and maple; secondary: pine; veneers: mahogany, maple, and figured birch, with light and dark string inlays. Center section of sideboard is bow front, with flanks being flat front.Half-round columns on each side. Top (pine veneered with birch) conforms to shape of case, including semi-circular projections above each column. Upper portion of sideboard has three drawers (long center drawer, short end drawers), each 4.4" high. Below center drawer is a two-door bow-front cabinet flanked with two bottle drawers. Below each short drawer is a single-door cabinet. Fronts of all drawers and doors are fully veneered with figured birch and string inlay; fronts of remaining casework fully veneered with mahogany. String inlay follows entire bottom of sideboard front and sides, 5/16" in height, with complicated diagonal design alternating different shades of wood.
Columns: Columns have several different sections of turnings: upper part (same level as drawers) is solid figured maple with ring turnings above and below; the next part (same level as the cabinets) is reeded; at bottom of cabinet is a block of wood with string inlay; ending in ring and vase turned feet. Columns are only on front of case, replaced with plain rectangular posts on rear; rear feet, however, are identical to front feet.
Drawers: Drawers are dovetail construction made of pine, with a small strip of mahogany on top edge of drawer fronts, and drawer fronts being fully veneered with figured birch and string inlay. Rear of drawer bottoms have cut nails; runners on sides of drawer bottom.
Brass drawer pulls round with pressed floral design (are replacements, shadows of previous pulls are visible). Dust boards under drawers on left and right, but not center drawer. On left drawer rear panel has pencil script "L" and red mark "1". On right drawer red mark "2". Center drawer has a red "3" on back and two red "1"s. Center drawer has oval center design of veneer and string inlay, flanked with drawer pulls; each pull is in the center of veneer and inlay squares.
Cabinets: Side cabinets each have a single shelf, and a hinged door. The doors are constructed of vertical panels of mahogany with horizontal breadboard ends. Each door has a brass lock with brass lock liner. Shelf is pine, stained red, and has a beaded front edge. Doors held on with two brass hinges. Right and left cabinets identical aside from left cabinet has a crack full height of door. Center cabinet has two doors, constructed of a horizontal panel (wood unidentified) with mahogany vertical breadboard ends. Brass lock with brass liner on right door and left door has sliding lock on its bottom edge. Doors each attached with two brass hinges. Interior of each cabinet has a red wash. Note that there are no pulls on the cabinets (only on the drawers).
Bottle Drawers: Bottle drawers are 12" high x 19.8" deep (excluding drawer pull). Pine with veneer front. Dovetail construction with cut nails in bottom and added wire nails at top on back. Interior divided into four squares to hold bottles. Brass lock and brass lock liner. Left drawer has red "2". Right drawer has red "1" and pencil scribbles on side.
Skirt: Skirt consists only of arched brackets underneath the bottle doors (same brackets on rear); there are corner supports behind them, but no glue blocks. Fronts are veneered with mahogany and string inlays.
Rear and Sides: Rear of sideboard is pine, and has splits in wood. Row of modern wire nails on top of back all the way across (function undetermined). Also cut nails and large screws visible to hold top on. Sides and rear posts are solid mahogany. Note that several wood braces support top of sideboard, evident by viewing interior of drawer space. - Material:
- Wood
Mahogany
Maple
Birch
Pine
Brass
Metal - Dimensions:
- H-42.5 W-71 D-24.5 inches
- Provenance:
- Purchased by NHHS at Sotheby's auction, April 13, 1982 (item #254). Consigned to auction by Joseph Keown (Glen Ellyn, IL), who collected Northeastern New England Federal furniture, 1970s-1982.
This piece appears to be in an antiques ad dated April 1980, at Catherine Blair Antiques, Summit, NJ; presumably, Keown purchased it from C. Blair Antiques.
This piece also appears to be identical to a sideboard pictured in the home of Hammond Vinton Hayes of Boston; Hayes's sideboard was known to have descended in the family of its original owner, Judge William Allen Hayes (1783-1851) of South Berwick, ME, grandfather of Hammond Vinton Hayes. It is believed that the piece purchased by NHHS is the sideboard originally owned by Judge William Allen Hayes, and later sold with other family furnishings by Hammond Vinton Hayes. (However, family correspondence suggests that the Hayes piece still remains in the Hayes family.) - Credit Line:
- New Hampshire Historical Society Purchase
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