Chest Of Drawers
- Object Name:
- Chest Of Drawers
- Object ID:
- 2021.020.12
- Creator:
- Blanchard, Ephraim (1778-1841) -- Cabinetmaker
- Place of Origin:
- Amherst, NH
- Date:
- circa 1830
- Description:
- Chest of drawers. Empire style. Made by Ephraim Blanchard (1778-1841), Amherst, NH. Originally owned by Barnabas B. and Elizabeth Welch (Melendy) David of Amherst. Maple and pine with mahogany and mahogany veneer. Ebonized ovoid "turnip" feet. Gilded pressed brass knobs. Printed paper label on interior of top large drawer: "ALL KINDS OF / CABINET FURNITURE, / MADE AND SOLD BY / EPHRAIM BLANCHARD, / AMHERST, N.H."
- Material:
- Wood
Mahogany
Maple
Pine - Dimensions:
- H-48.5 W-43 D-21.5 inches
- Provenance:
- Three Melendy brothers came from England to Massachusetts prior to 1729 and settled in Essex County. One of the brothers, William Melendy, settled in Medford and moved to Reading after his marriage in 1728. His grandson, William Melendy (1756-1814), married Abigail Badger (1762-1834) of Reading in 1780 and moved to Amherst, NH. A shoemaker, William Melendy and his brother Nathaniel became brickmakers, whose bricks were used in the construction of the bank buildings and houses in the town. They had ten children; the sixth, Rebecca, born 1795, married the artist Thomas Badger (1792-1868) and the tenth, Elizabeth Welch (1802-1892), married Barnabas B. David (1802-1883), a Boston whip manufacturer in 1825. Barnabas David formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Samuel B. Melendy, in 1830 manufacturing whips in Amherst, which afterward became their home. The business continued in Amherst through the 1880s. Their descendants, members of the Carey family, lived in the David family house in Amherst until the late 20th century.
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Elizabeth B. Carey, Ellison M. Carey, and Charles D. Carey III
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