Description:
Chest with drawers with a single board, lift lid attached to the case with two snipe hinges. There are chalk inscriptions on the inner lid including the name "Sarah Mattoon" (1687-1752), daughter of Philip Mattoon (d. 1696) and Sarah Hawks (1657-1751) of Deerfield. Sarah Mattoon was a 1704 captive who returned and married Zechariah Field (1685-1746) of Deerfield in 1711. She was the niece of John Hawks (1643-1721), a carpenter-joiner believed to be a maker of the carved Hadley chests and of these plainer types; however he was working in Deerfield from 1680 to about 1704 when his wife and daughter were killed in the 1704 raid, and trying to make an attribution to John Hawks is impossible without additional documentation. The chest was sold in an auction of the belongings of Susan B. Hawks (1883-1946) in 1946. Ms. Hawks was a Sheldon descendent who last owned the Sheldon House before it was bought by Henry N. Flynt (1893-1970) in 1946. She had an antiques business in the house where she sold many locally-obtained pieces; this chest was probably a family piece rather than one purchased from a local family. The National Heritage Museum (formerly Museum of Our National Heritage) has a similar chest thought to be from the Deerfield or Hatfield area, which was stored in a barn in western Massachusetts for many years and had its turned feet replaced by Wallace Nutting's shop around 1932. This case has a single arch molding with keyhole around the top; over two false drawers and two real drawers, all four with brass handles and esctucheons; plain sides; and a molded base and four long, turned legs. The real drawers have side groove runners; the stiles are visible, but nearly hidden by moldings and paint. The chest has been refinished; traces of old red paint can be found (these chests were all painted and/or decorated). See also 1195.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+0383 |
