My c. 1720 Eastern Massachusetts dresser is finished

Z

zdillinger

Well-known member
This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I love this kind of stuff. This chest of drawers is an exact replica of a c.1720 Eastern Massachussetts piece in the collection of the Met. I worked closely with curatorial staff and the conservator who worked on the piece in the 90s to get chemical analysis, construction photos, etc. to make this as spot on as possible.

This is a bit of a departure for me as I usually strive to make new furniture look as old as possible. With this piece, the interesting nature of the decoration would be lost if I did any aging to the finish, so I chose to replicate what it would have looked like when first made.

I realize most people today think this is gaudy, but when you remember the original context of low light conditions, it fits right in. Stuff in the period was often a lot brighter than we think today.... and this piece is certainly no exception. The original has muted and faded out to various shades of brown and yellow but the original pigments were quite bright!

Anyhow, here is how the original as it looked in 1997 (when the photos were taken), and how my piece looks (I just finished it last night).

Not a dovetail or glue bottle in sight but still a neat piece.

Thanks for looking.

Zach
 

Attachments

  • dresser 2.jpg
    dresser 2.jpg
    148.4 KB · Views: 116
  • dresser 3.JPG
    dresser 3.JPG
    108.6 KB · Views: 59
  • DT240388.jpg
    DT240388.jpg
    146.5 KB · Views: 72
That is an amazing piece of work. Well done!
Look forward to seeing it in person at the DIA in March.
 
Thanks Mike! I'll have to find a truck to get it to the DIA, but it'll be there. I'm undecided if I should bring anything else, as I don't want to take space away from anyone else.
 
Thanks for the posting.

If we all liked exactly the same kind of furniture, this activity would pretty soon become stuffy and boring. Imagine how little interest there would if everyone built only Newport chests or Philadelphia pie-crust tables; however beautiful.

Karl
 
Zach
That has to have been an interesting project and very well done. I liked your comment about the vivid colors and low light conditions. Do you have anymore history about this piece you can share?
 
Nice, I like the colors. And unlike most I prefer to finish my reproductions to look like they are new.
 
ChuckH said:
"Zach
That has to have been an interesting project and very well done. I liked your comment about the vivid colors and low light conditions. Do you have anymore history about this piece you can share?"
Click to expand...

Chuck, the Met had very few hard facts on the history of the piece. It is said to be c. 1720 from Eastern Massachusetts. It is obviously a joiner made piece, given its simplistic mortise and tenon work, nailed side-hung drawer construction and the evidence of riving on the case interior. The thing that makes this interesting to me is how the joiner (presumed to be the painter as well), obviously had knowledge of how high style furniture was supposed to look, and did his best to approximate the look of the decoration. He either didn't have the skill or the specialized tools needed to do oyster veneer, inlay, crossbanding, etc. but knew enough to offer decoration that looks close enough from across a dark room.

I'm not sure that the turned feet are original and neither is Marijn, the Met conservator I worked with. It is easy to see that the front leg mortises were sawn through, indicating that the stiles may once have extended to the floor. However, I am unable to find a similarly "fancy" chest with stile extension feet; they all seem to have turned feet. So, either the joiner made a mistake and made his mortises too low, or he didn't care about leaving one open when he cut them off, or someone else later on updated this piece to have ball feet. Without conclusive evidence either way, I chose to use the current look of the piece and went with the ball foot.
 
Are you familiar with the PBS series on how technology has changed our lives? The show on light said that sleeping habits had been changed, that before electricity and/or gas, people used to take a sleeping break in the early AM for a couple of hours, then went back to bed.

Pam
 
pampine said:
Are you familiar with the PBS series on how technology has changed our lives? The show on light said that sleeping habits had been changed, that before electricity and/or gas, people used to take a sleeping break in the early AM for a couple of hours, then went back to bed.

Pam
Click to expand...

Missed that one Pam. I'll have to get on pbs.org and see if I can find it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top