Bidspirit auction | SULFER-INLAID BLANKET CHEST

SULFER-INLAID BLANKET CHEST - Labeled for Andrew Patterson, possibly Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, dated 1808, walnut and pine. Dovetailed case with two drawers and ogee bracket feet; the facade with an inlaid panel with quarter fans, and with sulfur-inlaid ”M. HAWK” and dated ”1808.” 28.5” high, 44” wide, 20.5” deep. For more on sulfur-inlaid furniture, see Anderson, Hornsby Heindl, and Mass, Sulfur-Inlaid Furniture: New Insights on Materials and Techniques, in American Furniture (Chipstone, 2015) and Minardi, Sulfur Inlay in Pennsylvania German Furniture: New Discoveries in American Furniture (Chipstone, 2015). Provenance: an Ohio collection. Despite a maker’s label and an owner’s name, firmly identifying the origins of this chest has proven unusually challenging. While candidates for Andrew Patterson were found in various counties in southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as in Virginia, the likeliest candidate is an Andrew Patterson (1771-1832), born of Irish descent in Bucks County. By 1794, was living in Freeport, Armstrong County, where he married Jane Lindsay (1776-1857), and the couple had eleven children, ten of whom lived to adulthood. Along with running a farm, Patterson worked in a variety of woodworking trades, including as a carpenter, wheelwright, and turner. Freeport is in the southwest corner of Armstrong County, which borders Westmoreland County, which was the seat of the Hawk family in western Pennsylvania. The original Hawk (also sometimes Haag or Haack) settler in Westmoreland County, was Conrad Haag, who died around 1830. He was born in Germany and came to Pennsylvania with his family as a young boy. The family lived for a time in Philadelphia, later in Bucks County, and also for a time in the Lehigh area, before he moved to western Pennsylvania. The Hawk family descendants were large, prosperous German farm families. There were numerous “M. Hawks” in the family at the time this chest was made, so pinpointing the original owner is not yet possible, and Andrew Patterson undoubtedly would have interacted with many Hawks during the course of his life and businesses. Lisa Minardi’s thorough article on sulfur-inlaid furniture in southeastern Pennsylvania makes a solid case for the material being used principally in Germanic communities in a few Pennsylvania counties, and then moving south through Maryland and into Virginia. This blanket chest suggests that sulfur inlay also came west, though, here, the maker was not of German extract, but the original owner was, and the chest reflects this cultural mix in its inlaid decoration—sulfur used for the name and date, and the more traditional light wood inlay for the cartouche, including quarter fans, which are a standard Anglo-Irish design. It should also be noted that the price listed on the label, $10.50, is quite expensive for the time. Based on other period craftsman documents, a blanket chest would have been typically between $2 and $6, making this chest about twice as expensive, perhaps owing to the extra work of the inlaid decoration, and especially the use of an exotic material. NOTE: We are happy to answer questions and take additional photos of lots prior to the auction (the sooner submitted the better). Any updates or new photographs will be posted to the catalog on our website. Please check there prior to placing bids to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information. SHIPPING: We offer in-house shipping on all lots in this auction. Please see the terms for more information and contact us for a packing/shipping estimate.