Cupboard

This cupboard is part of a large group of Connecticut furniture-perhaps as many as eighty-five pieces-decorated with carved, "tulip-and-sunflower" decoration; many have histories in the Hartford-Wethersfield area. Long associated with joiner Peter Blin, the objects now are believed to be the work of several craftsmen also from central Connecticut. The eclectic mix of flat carvings of abstracted tulips and marigolds; applied spindles and bosses (painted black to simulate expensive, imported ebony); and architectonic moldings and overhangs reveal the breadth of stylistic influences in Connecticut during the first generations after settlement. Reportedly, the Hathaway family of Hartford and Suffield originally owned this chest.