Description:
Flat-topped chest of drawers with a paper label bearing a hand-written ink inscription: "Mary Lyon's Bureau" glued to the third drawer's center divider. Mary Lyon (1797-1849) of Ashfield, the daughter of Aaron Lyon (1757-1802) and Jemima Shepard Lyon (ca. 1761-1840), founded Mount Holyoke College in 1837. Jemima Shepard Lyon was the daughter of Isaac Shepard Shepard (1739-?) and Jemima Smith Shepard, the daughter of Chileab Smith (1708-1800), who was the probable maker of HD's rope-seat settle (2001.41), and Sarah Moody Smith (1709-1789). Isaac Shepard and Isaac Shepard Jr. were members of Chileab Smith's Baptist Church in Baptist Corner, Ashfield. This chest has a molded cornice over a large top drawer; over four graduated drawers; over a scalloped apron and front bracket feet. A double row of horizontal bead moldings across the mid section of the top drawer face simulates two graduated drawers. Bead molding runs along the bottom, side and top edges of each drawer. The tops of the three interior boards that divide the third drawer into six equal compartments are rabbeted to receive lids (now missing). The front skirt is rabbeted to the sides and secured with vertical glue blocks behind the legs and a horizontal glue block attached to the bottom dust board. The feet are cut from the skirt. The first, third and fifth drawers rest on full dust boards, the lower two of which are dovetailed to the sides of the case. The vertically-oriented backboards are chamfered along their side and top edges and are let into grooves in the sides and top and nailed to the bottom dustboard. The drawer sides are dovetailed to the front and back boards and the chamfered bottoms are let into grooves in the front and sides and nailed to the back. The brasses, escutcheons and the bottom of the third drawer are replacements.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2003.41 |
