A nearly identical high chest to the signed Henry Cliffton/Thomas Carteret at Colonial Williamsburg was sold in 2008. This image of the cornice shows a bonnet with a shaped bolt of yellow poplar fixed between the top of the scroll mouldings and the backboard. No carved shell drawers in chests made in Philadelphia during the … Continue reading Another Bonnet
Carving
Asa Ames (1823-1851), Carver
The 2015 "Working Wood in the 18th Century" conference was held in the auditorium of the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Williamsburg, Virginia. Much of my free time was spent roaming the galleries of the museum. At times it felt like old home week as there was so much carved material from the early 18th … Continue reading Asa Ames (1823-1851), Carver
From the Archives
I am slowly scanning and processing decades worth of images from B.D. (Before Digital) This black walnut desk was probably made in Chester County, Pennsylvania, c. 1770. I was quite new to the world of furniture restoration then and even though this was a remarkable and complicated object I assumed I would come across this … Continue reading From the Archives
“People like bonnets. I don’t think you can under-estimate that” Andrew Davies
A comment on a previous post about enclosed bonnets on mid-18th century high chests cited another solution to their design. Instead of a flat board running front to back supporting the superstructure, a round, a roughly shaped bolt of yellow poplar or white cedar could be fit between the tympanum and the backboard which had … Continue reading “People like bonnets. I don’t think you can under-estimate that” Andrew Davies
Put A Bonnet On It
The covered scroll top of a high chest made in Philadelphia c. 1760 that is made as a third component of the chest, and lifts off, allows a rarely seen view of this form of construction. The top section rests on the upper case section. The lower element of the cornice moulding slightly overhangs the … Continue reading Put A Bonnet On It
In Proportion to the Trouble 