Chest of drawers

Creator:: Goddard, John, 1723-1785 (attributed)
Published/Created:: Newport, Newport county, Rhode Island, United States
ca. 1750–1760
Physical Description:: No dimensions given
Materials:: Mahogany (primary); chestnut (secondary); marble (top); brass (hardware)
Notes:: Sack catalogue description: Chippendale mahogany marble-top bureau, serpentine front and sides with turret corners, cabriole legs ending in claw-and-ball front feet and pad feet in the rear; in remarkable state of preservation retaining the original finish and brasses, the original grey and white marble top has a diagonal crack, the secondary wood is chestnut. A Newport masterpiece attributed to John Goddard, this bureau represents an important Newport variant from the block and shell bureau form; to our knowledge it is the only American marble-top Chippendale bureau from any center in a public or private collection. This bureau originally belonged to Richard Crooke of Newport, who married Ann Wickham; a geneological chart traces its descent to the present generation. It was sold by us to a prominent private collector from whom we recently repurchased it. Features defining Goddard authorship, as discussed in American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. 1, p. 733: the concept comes into focus by comparison with the mahogany marble-top console table retaining the bill of sale of John Goddard to Seth Low in 1755, illustrated in The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture, no. 40. Relationship: 1) Two series of serpentine curves, fashioned from the solid, each epitomize the reliance by Goddard on unadorned form and planes of curves, utilizing the smooth façades of carefully chosen dense mahogany to the maximum; 2) Distinctive serpentine columns on both; 3) Rounded knees with serpentine wings on both; 4) The same white marble with grey veins; 5) Identical pad feet on both examples. Comparison with the John Brown-Herreschoff corner chair attributed to John Goddard is also striking. Relationship: 1) Distinctive claw-and-ball feet; 2) Rounded knees with serpentine ridge at crest where it joins the column. Exhibited in "American Art from American Collections" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1963.
Related objects: Exhibition catalogue: The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture (Providence, R.I.: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1965), no. 40.
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Bibliography: Book: American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Highland House Publishers, 1957–1990), vol. 3, pp. 732–733. Journal/Periodical: The Magazine Antiques (December 1962): frontispiece. Journal/Periodical: "Living with Antiques," The Magazine Antiques (May 1967).
Variant Titles:: Chippendale mahogany marble-top bureau
Topics:: Decoration and ornament -- Chippendale style
Furniture -- United States
Period/Style:: Chippendale
Culture:: American
Accession Number:: 0817
Genre:: bureaus (chests of drawers) (AAT)
Format:: Image
Physical Object
Content Type:: Furnishings & Decorative Arts
Prints & Photographs
Rights:: The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement
Access Restrictions:: Public
Source Title:: Israel Sack, Inc., Archive
Source Created:: New York, New York, United States
1957–1990
Source Note:: Sack, September 1971
This information is taken from the Israel Sack Furniture Archive and may not reflect current scholarship.
Folder:: Folder 10718 cab4dr1 tif
Yale Collection:: Yale University Art Gallery
Digital Collection:: Israel Sack Furniture Archive
oid pointer:: 10986898
OID:: 11887958
PID:: digcoll:847354