Rhode Island Furniture Archive - Yale University Art Gallery

Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's, New York Click the image to enlarge	Chest of drawers
	Object number RIF2365
	Maker Maker Unknown
	Dimensions 31 � 35 1/2 � 21 1/4 in. (78.74 � 90.17 � 53.975 cm)
	Date 1760–90
	Current location Unknown
	Geography Made in Providence, Rhode Island (view a map of Rhode Island)
	Medium Mahogany (primary); chestnut (drawer linings, glue block under top, and drawers supports)
	Marks None
	Inscriptions "Capt. S. G. Allen [?] Steamer DePay Pier 43 East River New York City 2-9-09," inscribed, on chest back; "A. G. Breitenstein, Providence, Rhode Island," written on a sticker affixed to chest; "I," in chalk, on top drawer; "II," in graphite on second drawer
	Provenance Adolph. G. Breitenstein (probably born 1864), Providence, Rhode Island. Capt. S. G. Allen, New York, 1909. A sea captain, Westport, Connecticut; sold to Mr. and Mrs. G. G. Ernst, Norwalk, Connecticut; consigned to American Art Galleries, New York, January 20-23, 1926, lot 846. Louise Fleischman Maclay and Alfred Barmore Maclay (1871–1944), New York, and Tallahassee, Florida, by 1929. Edith Tucker Cluett (died 1950) and George Alfred Cluett (died 1955), New York and Williamstown, Massachusetts; by descent to their children; consigned to Sotheby's, New York, January 19, 2007, lot 289
	Associated names George Alfred Cluett Sotheby's Capt. S. G. Allen Louise Fleischman Maclay Mr. G. G. Ernst Adolph G. Breitenstein Edith Tucker Cluett Alfred Barmore Maclay Mrs. G. G. Ernst
	Construction The case back consists of one large board with one narrow board at the top back. The case sides are two boards apiece. The drawer sides are unusually thin and the drawer bottoms run perpendicularly to the drawer fronts. The case bottom consists of a single board. The top, feet and the upper drawer bottom are of later date. Examined by P. E. Kane and M. Taradash, January 17, 2007; notes compiled by T. B. Lloyd.
	Bibliography Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana including Property Approved for Deaccession by the Board of Trustees of Historic Deerfield, Inc., sale cat. (January 19–21, 2007), 290, lot 289. Loan Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth-Century Furniture and Glass, exh. cat. (New York: American Art Galleries, 1929), n.p., no. 602, ill. American Art Galleries and American Art Association, New York, The Early American Collection of Mr. and Mrs. G. G. Ernst, Norwalk, Conn., sale cat. (January 20–23, 1926), 185, lot 846.