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Culture:American
Title:chest-on-chest
Date Made:ca. 1785
Type:Furniture
Materials:wood: cherry, white pine; base metal: brass
Place Made:United States; Massachusetts; Deerfield (probably)
Measurements:overall: 85 1/4 in x 43 in x 21 3/4 in; 216.535 cm x 109.22 cm x 55.245 cm
Accession Number:  HD 2009.36.1
Credit Line:Museum Purchase with funds donated by Ray J. & Anne K. Groves, Mr. & Mrs. Henry E. Bartels, & Joseph Peter Spang
Museum Collection:  Historic Deerfield
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Description:
Scalloped-top chest-on-chest in cherry and white pine, which may have been made for a member of the Hoyt family of Deerfield by an unidentified Deerfield cabinetmaker. In the nineteenth century it came into the possession of Henry King Hoyt (1810-1863) and his wife Catherine Wells Hoyt (1805-1891). Henry King Hoyt grew up in the 1699 John Sheldon House (the “Old Indian House” that had been spared from the fire that destroyed much of Deerfield during the 1704 raid), which he inherited with his mother and sister in 1835 and tore down in 1848 to make way for a new home. The chest-on-chest descended through the Wells and Wilby family; the family pieces were documented by Elizabeth Hawks Wells (1845-1938), the wife of George Merritt Wells (1839-1883) of Deerfield, about 1930. This chest came from the Viola Wilby estate. The cabinetmaker's workmanship suggests that he was trained in eastern Connecticut, near Colchestert, reflecting the influence of eastern Connecticut craftsmen who settled in Berkshire County after the Revolution. The idiosyncratic grooved finials and ribbed central plinth are reminiscent of designs originating in eastern Connecticut. Other design elements include a carved fan with rays originating from a circle with a raised center point and ending in gouged terminals; unusual bracket feet with reverse ogee shaping; and feet brackets applied to extensions of the case sides to form the feet. The ogee bracket feet have pronounced spurs and upside-down ogee (S-curve) profiles featuring a convex bulge at the toes rather than ankles. Although unusual, this design is not unique in American furniture and can be found on case furniture by cabinetmakers such as John Shaw (1745-1829) of Annapolis. The cabinetmaker of this chest-on-chest based the proportions on a square described by the placement of the brasses on the lower case drawers, and he laid out the round openings of the bonnet based on a series of isosceles triangles centered on the fan carved in the top drawer of the upper case. The unusual reverse-ogee design of the feet and carved shells closely relate to other locally-made furniture, including a scalloped-top chest of drawers (private collection) made to mark the 1779 wedding of Mercy Hoyt (1755-1834) to Deerfield hatter, Justin Hitchcock (1810-1863). The top center drawer front is cherry and the drawer bottoms and runners are white pine.

Label Text:
The ogee bracket feet have pronounced spurs and reverse ogee shape and a convex bulge at the toes rather than ankles which is unusual, though not unique in American furniture. The cabinetmaker established the overall dimensions using proportions derived from the golden mean. He cast internal relationships of elements in the upper and lower case based on a square described by the placement of the brasses on the lower case drawers. And he laid out the round apertures of the bonnet and the round base of the finial plinth based on a series of isosceles triangles centered on the carved fan.
A Deerfield cabinetmaker probably made this chest-on-chest; its idiosyncratic design elements are characteristic of his shop. These elements include:
• ribbed center plinth and grooved finials
• a carved fan with rays originating from a circle with a raised center point and ending in gouged terminals
• unusual bracket feet with reverse ogee shaping
• feet brackets applied to extensions of the case sides to form the feet
These elements relate to case furniture made in eastern Connecticut, reflecting the influence of eastern Connecticut craftsmen who settled in Berkshire County after the Revolution. Perhaps the maker of this chest-on-chest trained, or worked, in eastern Connecticut before coming to Deerfield.

The cabinetmaker established the overall dimensions using proportions derived from the golden mean. He cast internal relationships of elements in the upper and lower case based on a square described by the placement of the brasses on the lower case drawers. And he laid out the round apertures of the bonnet and the round base of the finial plinth using inverted isosceles triangles centered on the carved fan.

Original owner:
A member of the Hoyt or Wells family of Deerfield may have first owned this chest-on-chest. In the 19th century it came into the possession of Henry King Hoyt (1810-1863) and his wife Catherine Wells Hoyt (1805-1891). Henry King Hoyt grew up in the 1699 John Sheldon House (the “Old Indian House” that had been spared from the fire that destroyed much of Deerfield during the 1704 raid), which he inherited with his mother and sister in 1835 and tore down in 1848 to make way for a new home.
Take note!
●The ogee bracket feet have pronounced spurs and “upside-down” ogee (S-curve) profiles featuring a convex bulge at the toes rather than ankles. Although unusual, this design is not unique in American furniture and can be found on case furniture by cabinetmakers such as John Shaw (1745-1829) of Annapolis.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2009.36.1

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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