Description:
This chest of drawers is an example of imitative work capitalizing on a design first produced by Athol, Massachusetts, cabinetmaker Alden Spooner (1784-1877) and perpetuated by his apprentice, Jacob Carter (1796-1886), who established a cabinetmaking shop in Belchertown. Historic Deerfield owns a veneered chest of drawers (0214) signed by Carter and probably made while Carter was finishing his apprenticeship with Spooner, and a grain-painted chest of drawers (2010.12) that Carter later made in Belchertown, both with cut-out skirt profiles that provide that pattern for the present example. The top and bottom are dovetailed to the sides. The legs consist of three separate components: the reeded column, the turned element above and the turned foot. The top two elements of the rear legs, ½-round in section, are glued to the case sides and the top two sections of the front legs are cut out and fitted over the case corners. All four legs are butted to the bottom of the case; the joints are reinforced with angled iron braces that appear original to the case. The horizontal backboards are nailed into rabbets in the case sides and butted and nailed to the top and bottom. The drawer supports are fabricated from four frame members tenoned together and nailed to the case sides, resulting in supports that span the back of the case. The drawer fronts are cut from three vertical laminates. The full sub-top is dovetailed to the sides and the drawer runners extend the full length of the sides to the back. Side panels are joined with two butterfly splines on each side. Modern hardware, both proper lefts legs have been broken off and reattached.

Label Text:
This bureau illustrates the complexity of the cabinetmaking business in rural Massachusetts at the beginning of the 19th century. Athol, Massachusetts cabinetmaker Alden Spooner (1784-1877) originated the design for this bureau around 1800. He and his apprentice, Jacob Carter (1796-1886), who later opened a shop in Belchertown, Massachusetts, continued to make variations of the design well into the 1820s. Noting its widespread popularity, Daniel Clay copied the design, probably constructing this example using a completely different method of construction than that of Spooner and Carter. One unusual feature is the experimental iron struts used in place of glue blocks at the joints between the legs and the case.

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