Kitchen Dresser, China Press or Dutch Cupboard
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Description
-This kitchen dresser or China press has two, eight-paneled doors on the upper section featuring step-down mullions and a cornice. The two doors are separated by an intermediate division of four glass panes. The interior of the upper section features its original blue-green interior paint and shelves with spoon slots.
-Originally painted Spanish brown in the early nineteenth century, a later owner chose to update the surface with a lively coat of highly figured fancy painting that combines typical combed surfaces with naturalistic details characteristic of German and Scots culture from the mid-eighteenth century forward. The choice of mahoganized drawer fronts, door panels, and cornice form a stunning contrast to the layered graining of the larger case, which sports a combination of transparent combed, sponged, and freehand graining along the yellow ground to produce an unusually lively impression for the era. The free-flowing character of the painting, though relying in part on graining combs has a spontaneous character and reflects a color palette that seem more indicative of early and mid-century design and likely represents the work of an artisan trained perhaps a quarter century earlier than this piece.
-Though examples of painted furniture from the late nineteenth century rarely make historical references, here the artist who created this example upon a familiar botanical motif that references traditional Pennsylvania German culture and might be viewed today as an early expression of the Colonial Revival movement that emerged at the end of the nineteenth. Though it may represent the continuation of an ongoing Pennsylvania tradition, one must also consider that this
-As typical of Pennsylvania examples of the form, the dresser is constructed of two, separate dovetail-constructed case pieces. -
More Information
Origin: United States, Pennsylvania Period: 19th Century Materials: wood, paint, fancy painting, Condition: Excellent. The cupboard survives in supurb structural condition with all the elements intact, save for the loss of the lower molding of the upper case. Creation Date: 1825-1870 Styles / Movements: Folk Art, Americana, Traditional Dealer Reference #: FR2017036 Incollect Reference #: 240587 -
Dimensions
W. 59.25 in; H. 89.5 in; D. 19.625 in; W. 150.5 cm; H. 227.33 cm; D. 49.85 cm;
Message from Seller:
Sumpter Priddy III, Inc. maintains superb relationships with an active group of collectors, as well as private and public institutions. Among its clients are the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts; the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; the White House; the Maryland Historical Society; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Historic Deerfield, Inc.