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Lot Essay
Distinguished by its diminutive size, original paint and rare inscription, this cupboard illustrates the influence of English design preferences on the Dutch kast form during the eighteenth century in the Hudson River Valley. The restrained cornice molding reflects Georgian tastes and contrasts with the overhanging cornices of the Baroque aesthetic. In addition, the small ovolo moldings framing the door's fielded panels are an anglicized detail seen on a related kast, possibly from Dutchess County dating from 1740 to 1780 and now at Winterthur Museum (Peter M. Kenny, Frances Gruber Safford and Gilbert T. Vincent, American Kasten (New York, 1991), p. 69, fig. 44). While these influences may indicate a similar date of production for the cupboard offered here, another cupboard of similar size and also with one rather than two doors has been dated to the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, raising the possibility that the cupboard offered here was also made earlier (Joseph T. Butler, Sleepy Hollow Restorations (Tarrytown, NY, 1983), p. 73, no. 82). Another feature indicating a relatively early date is the use of large butterfly hinges (Roderic H. Blackburn and Ruth Piwonka, Remembrance of Patria: Dutch Arts and Culture in Colonial America 1609-1776 (Albany, 1988), p. 272). For other related kasten or cupboards from the region, see Blackburn and Piwonka, pp. 264-265, cat. 282; Kenny et al., pp. 68-69, cat. 17; Pook & Pook, Inc., May 11, 2007, lot 256.
The painted surface has been professionally analyzed and reveals that the cupboard retains its original red paint underneath three slightly later layers, the uppermost of Prussian blue most evident now. Penetrating into the wood fibers, the first generation of paint consists of a sizing layer and dark red pigment. With only thin layers of dirt above, the following three layers appear to have been applied relatively early on in its history (Susan L. Buck, "Cross-Section Microscopy Report," SPNEA Conservation Center, January 17, 1994; Christopher A. Shelton, "Treatment Report," March 29, 1995 and conversation, August, 2007; these reports will be available to the purchaser of the cupboard). Such a scheme was popular in the Hudson River Valley during the eighteenth century. The related form at Winterthur, discussed above, bears a layer of red paint with a later coat of blue-green and two of the others, one painted red and the other blue-grey, also reflect this practice (Blackburn and Piwonka, pp. 264-265, cat. 282; Kenny et al., pp. 68-69, cat. 17).
The backboards' inscription indicates that the cupboard was owned in New Berlin, Chenango County, New York, probably in the early to mid-nineteenth century as New Berlin was founded in 1807. The name is not wholly legible, but appears to read Charles War... . The census records from 1810 through 1850 include only one individual in New Berlin with a name that corresponds to the inscription: Charles Warner. He appears in the 1810 census and was most likely related to two men named Sabin Warner, one who settled in New Berlin in 1793 and another who was born in Rhode Island in 1803 and later moved to the town. Charles may also have been related to the Warners of Chester, Connecticut who established a wagon and carriage-making business in the neighboring town of Norwich. See John Hyde, Historical Sketches of Old New Berlin (New Berlin, NY, 1991), p. 37; Lucien C. Warner, The Descendants of Andrew Warner (New Haven, CT, 1919), pp. 428, 429, 595. The early nineteenth-century owner may also have been have been a descendant or relative of the cupboard's maker. Charles Warner (d. 1836), a cabinetmaker working in the early nineteenth century in Poughkeepsie, New York, produced urban-designed forms in the federal and classical styles. While his work bears little relationship to the cupboard offered here, his name and profession may indicate that previous members of the Warner family were also woodworkers (Tad D. Fallon, "Charles Warner: Cabinetmaker, Poughkeepsie NY, a Regional Study of Early 19th Cabinetmaking in Upstate NY" (Masters Thesis, Antioch University, 2003).
The painted surface has been professionally analyzed and reveals that the cupboard retains its original red paint underneath three slightly later layers, the uppermost of Prussian blue most evident now. Penetrating into the wood fibers, the first generation of paint consists of a sizing layer and dark red pigment. With only thin layers of dirt above, the following three layers appear to have been applied relatively early on in its history (Susan L. Buck, "Cross-Section Microscopy Report," SPNEA Conservation Center, January 17, 1994; Christopher A. Shelton, "Treatment Report," March 29, 1995 and conversation, August, 2007; these reports will be available to the purchaser of the cupboard). Such a scheme was popular in the Hudson River Valley during the eighteenth century. The related form at Winterthur, discussed above, bears a layer of red paint with a later coat of blue-green and two of the others, one painted red and the other blue-grey, also reflect this practice (Blackburn and Piwonka, pp. 264-265, cat. 282; Kenny et al., pp. 68-69, cat. 17).
The backboards' inscription indicates that the cupboard was owned in New Berlin, Chenango County, New York, probably in the early to mid-nineteenth century as New Berlin was founded in 1807. The name is not wholly legible, but appears to read Charles War... . The census records from 1810 through 1850 include only one individual in New Berlin with a name that corresponds to the inscription: Charles Warner. He appears in the 1810 census and was most likely related to two men named Sabin Warner, one who settled in New Berlin in 1793 and another who was born in Rhode Island in 1803 and later moved to the town. Charles may also have been related to the Warners of Chester, Connecticut who established a wagon and carriage-making business in the neighboring town of Norwich. See John Hyde, Historical Sketches of Old New Berlin (New Berlin, NY, 1991), p. 37; Lucien C. Warner, The Descendants of Andrew Warner (New Haven, CT, 1919), pp. 428, 429, 595. The early nineteenth-century owner may also have been have been a descendant or relative of the cupboard's maker. Charles Warner (d. 1836), a cabinetmaker working in the early nineteenth century in Poughkeepsie, New York, produced urban-designed forms in the federal and classical styles. While his work bears little relationship to the cupboard offered here, his name and profession may indicate that previous members of the Warner family were also woodworkers (Tad D. Fallon, "Charles Warner: Cabinetmaker, Poughkeepsie NY, a Regional Study of Early 19th Cabinetmaking in Upstate NY" (Masters Thesis, Antioch University, 2003).