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Rare Brass-Mounted Mahogany Corner Commode

Offered by: Carswell Rush Berlin Antiques

Description
The paneled back splash above the triangular shaped top above the conforming case with curving, concave façade with three short drawers, two with stamped brass ring pulls, above a pair of paneled cabinet doors opening to a shelved interior, the case raised on four suppressed ball feet with beaded brass anklets. The cabinet forms a 90 degree angle.

Condition: One ball foot may be an old replacement and has one replaced brass anklet, the brass drawer pulls are original and have had their matte and burnished lacquered surface restored to original appearance, the case retaining its old surface, cleaned of later wax and dirt, and repolished. The rear foot is missing and has been replaced with a block of new wood, as its original shape is unknown.

The quality and matching of the rich flame mahogany veneers on this exceedingly rare sideboard are some of the finest that we have seen. This, combined with the curved façade, creates a piece of unusual sophistication and beauty. The profile of the backsplash, which relates to the only known sideboard labeled by Emmons & Archibald, suggest their manufacture although certain distinctive construction features suggest the possibility that this was made in the shop of Isaac Vose when Thomas Seymour was his shop foreman. No other related piece is known.

Provenance: Descended in the family of Kirk Boott (1790-1830), a Boston merchant who in 1822 was appointed the first agent of the Merrimack Company to oversee every aspect of the industrial and community development of Lowell, Massachusetts. He is credited with the economic success of Lowell as an important textile-producing city.

In 1808 Boott’s daughter Francis married William Wells, a Harvard graduate and Latin scholar and teacher who in 1805 had gone into business with Robert Lilly as a publisher (Wells and Lilly). Their business at the corner of Court Street burned in 1827 forcing Wells to abandon the business and return to teaching. He conducted a school at their home in Cambridge on Brattle Street, at the corner of Fayerweather, a property he bought with the help of friends in 1827. Among his pupils were James Russell Lowell and Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Their fourth daughter Frances Boott Wells, married the Reverend William Newell in 1835. They and their children lived in the Brattle Street house with the family furniture. Reverend Newell was the minister of the First Parish Church in Cambridge from 1830-1868. Their daughter married James Moore and the furniture has remained in the Moore family to this day.

More Information

Origin:	United States, Massachusetts
Period:	19th Century
Condition:	Good.
Creation Date:	1820-1825
Styles / Movements:	Federal, Neoclassical, Sheraton
Dealer Reference #:	SB-0102241
Incollect Reference #:	104938