Description:
Completed in 1903 by artist Madeline Yale Wynne (1847-1918), this chest with drawer is a tour-de-force of Arts and Crafts design. Known as Garden of Hearts for its landscape of three inverted heart-shaped trees along a winding river, the chest showcases Wynne’s talents as a painter, metalsmith, and woodworker. The carved landscape composition on the lid interior features three orange trees--two in bloom and one bearing fruit--with inverted heart-shaped foliage before a meandering river and distant mountains; two white rabbits are nestled in the corners. Wynne described her motif as follows: “The river of life flows through the garden and the web of circumstances, some of earth, some heaven-born, binds all together.” Each of these elements is carved, painted, and accentuated with gold paint. Framing the painting and filling the upper corners of the lid are insect wings made from hammered copper set with stones surrounded by eight blue painted butterflies. The lid has on its exterior a low-relief design featuring a large tree with two elves and rabbits and a distinguished peacock hammered out of copper. The lid is attached to the chest with wrought iron strap hinges terminating in circles enclosing cabochons set on copper work. Five hand hammered copper panels with floral patterns decorate the facade and sides of the chest. The back of the chest is inscribed "MADE / IN / AMERICA / 1903 / MYW."
Label Text:
Building a Collection, September 27, 2025-February 23, 2025: In 1903, Madeline Yale Wynne, a leader in the American Arts and Crafts movement working in Deerfield, MA, and Chicago, IL, constructed this oak bride’s chest. Ornamented with paint, decorative carving, hammered copper panels, wrought iron hinges, and semi-precious stones, it is known as Garden of Hearts for its landscape of three inverted heart-shaped trees along a winding river. This chest is a tour de force of Arts and Crafts design—which favored handcraftsmanship over mechanized production—and showcases Wynne’s talents as a painter, metalsmith, and woodworker. Commissioned by British native and University of Chicago Professor Richard Green Moulton for a friend in Britain, the chest was lost for much of the 20th century but was recently discovered and acquired by Historic Deerfield. Although inspired by early Connecticut River Valley joined chests, the chest served as a canvas for Wynne’s own creative designs, including the stylized motifs in hammered copper panels on the front of the chest and the peacock, elves, and rabbits nestled beneath a large oak tree on the lid exterior. The interior reveals Wynne’s brilliantly carved and painted landscape depicting orange trees with blossoms and fruit, outlined in gold paint, and “the river of life [flowing] through the garden and the web of circumstances, some of earth, some heaven-born.”
Tags:
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2023.3 |
