My visit to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Mark, that looks like another glued up/nailed up bottom (last pics).  Did you get a look inside the drawer or under it?  This drawer construction appears to be very typical of London and Philadelphia.  I believe you guys when you tell me that grooved sides with slid in bottoms were typical elsewhere.  I'm just not seeing it.  If this is an early Boston piece, maybe it was made by a London tradesman.  Jacon?  Al?  I could be wrong about what I'm seeing too.  That strip could be a wear strip and not the drawer bottom. 

Thoughts Mark?

Adam
 
Yup, you're right Adam. The bottom was glued/nailed on and had wear strips (that have been replaced) also nailed to the bottom. The half-blinds were not overcut on the inside of drawer backs.
This is a very early piece - really the only early Queen Anne that they had. Most everything else was Mid century and later.

I've often wondered why curators don't leave one drawer pulled out two inches for interested parties to see the details that we so crave...
 
One other thing, Adam. On the spray vs hand finishing thread you commented about how many curators are opting for less shiny finishes. That certainly wasn't the case here. It appeared to me that most of these pieces probably had a shellac finish that was buffed to a pretty high shine - too high for me, personally. I'd love to talk to the curator about what restoration work they did on these pieces.
 
Leaving drawers pulled out ?

It might please those of us (few) who are into how it was built, but at the expense of order.

I mean no disrespect to the many curators when I say that it is a different profession than furniture building.

While there are certainly many notable exceptions,  many curators are educated and trained at an entirely different aspect of things, and it has been my observation that in these times, there seems to be a declining correlation between the domain knowledge of many curators and the collections they oversee. The museums I know are all struggling with the economics of the day, and it is probably tempting to replace aging domain experts who are fewer and farther between with younger and less domain knowledgeable staff, especially  when the collections are small or diverse.

Karl

 
MarkHochstein said:
One other thing, Adam. On the spray vs hand finishing thread you commented about how many curators are opting for less shiny finishes. That certainly wasn't the case here. It appeared to me that most of these pieces probably had a shellac finish that was buffed to a pretty high shine - too high for me, personally. I'd love to talk to the curator about what restoration work they did on these pieces.
Click to expand...

I noticed the same thing and chose not to comment.  It could be that those pieces were in conservation years ago and just haven't been updated.  Or it could be that a curator wants them like that. 

We need only look to recent conservations like this one:

http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=872

I think it's interesting that interior wall paint finishes are getting interpretted as brighter and shinier and the natural wood finishes are getting duller.  Even medieval interiors and furnishings are getting brighter and more colorful.

Adam
 
Adam,
Yep, looks like nailed on bottom to me although it appears to be a different wood than drawer sides, possible repair? Dont get me wrong about nailed on bottoms, it did happen and not only in Philly or by London trained cabinetmakers. I have this Chippendale painted yellow pine blanket chest that was found in the Shenandoah valley with wedged dovetails (dont get me started on this) that has drawers with bottoms nailed on with very large T headed nails.  Its just that the groove/bevel drawer bottoms are much more common than nailed on bottoms, why that is i have no clue. Perhaps nails were an issue? ( I would note there are those that disagree with this theory and that iron was not that big a deal in the colonies)

In any event, this blanket chest was built by a German trained immigrant in the last quarter of the 18th century and he did wedged dovetails (prettiest dovetails i ever saw, bar none)  and nailed on drawer bottoms somewhere in the back country of Virginia.
 
I'm planning to vist  MFA in the fall (just a few feet down the road from my Alma mater).  Anyone know if they have any special tours or if you can arrange a private furniture tour ?

martin
 
I asked about a furniture tour when I bought my ticket but the sales person didn't seem to have any idea what I was talking about so I just bought the general ticket since I was time limited. One interesting thing is that, unlike the Philly museum, very few of the pieces are behind glass, most are open air, just behind a 1 foot high railing. Makes if easy yo take pictures so bring a camera with a good low-light lens since no flash is allowed.
 
Mark and Adam- Boston guys did tend to, in some cases, attach bottoms with nails and glue. There's a George Bright blockfront chest with 3 foot wide draws with the grain running front to back- cracked all over the place...-Al
 
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