Chest of drawers with doors

Among the types of London-style joinery practiced in seventeenth-century New England, one is associated with the Mason and Messinger shops of Boston (see 32.219), while another-seen here-is reflected in furniture made in the New Haven Colony by London-trained immigrant craftsmen, such as William Russell and William Gibbons. The inlaid checkerboard and sawtooth motifs, applied, decorative spindles with unusual acorn caps, and frieze glyphs featured on this chest of drawers with doors are also seen on cupboards, chests, and other forms from this tradition. These New Haven objects also share an economical use of materials in their construction, perhaps reflecting the so-called wood famine mentality that permeated the thinking of London craftsmen, who were faced with a shortage of timber dating to Elizabethan times. Although lumber was plentiful in the American colonies, some immigrant craftsmen retained the frugal practice learned in their training.This text was adapted from Ward, et al., MFA Highlights: American Decorative Arts & Sculpture (Boston, 2006) available at www.mfashop.com/mfa-publications.html.

The inlaid checkerboard and sawtooth motifs; applied, decorative spindles with unusual acorn caps; and frieze glyphs (small, applied ornaments seen on the upper section, between the drawers, and on the sides) also are found on cupboards and chests from the New Haven colony. Probably made by London-trained craftsmen, these objects exhibit an economical use of materials. This may reflect the "wood famine mentality" that permeated the thinking of English craftsmen, faced with a shortage of timber since Elizabethan times. Although lumber was plentiful in America, some craftsmen retained the frugal practices learned in their training.