$171,000
Chippendale Carved Walnut Dressing Table, Philadelphia, late 1740s-late 1750s, attributed to the cabinetmaking shop of Henry Cliffton and Thomas Carteret and the carver, Nicholas Bernard, the top with molded edge and front notched corners overhangs a case of thumb-molded drawers flanked by chamfered fluted front corners, above a lower central drawer with rococo flat carving, including a shell having punchwork, five stop-fluted lobes, and C-scrolls flanked by applied scrolled acanthus leafage, above a front skirt with pierced and reverse-carved elements flanked by shell-carved front legs with scrolled knee brackets, above high-tongued trifid feet, replaced brasses, (scratches and other imperfections), ht. 30, wd. 34, dp. 20 3/4 in. Literature: American Furniture, 2004, edited by Luke Beckerdite, published by the Chipstone Foundation, University Press of New England, "A Table's Tale: Craft, Art and Opportunity in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia," by Luke Beckerdite and Alan Miller; p. 9, fig 13; p. 15, fig. 27; and p. 16, fig. 28 show Nicholas Bernard's carving as similar to the applique on this lot. Much of the information used in cataloguing was derived from this source. Note: Nicholas Bernard, a distinguished Philadelphia carver, probably trained or worked in the shadow of Samuel Harding, one of the most important carvers in the first half of the 18th century in Philadelphia. The authors believe Bernard stopped carving in the early 1760s and focused on managing the bus Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2005-06-05
