New York, New York – On January 24, 2009 Sotheby’s will offer for sale The Important Captain Edward Allen
Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Bombé Chest-on-Chest, Probably Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1780
– one of only seven known American bombé chest-on-chests to survive. Newly discovered, never before published,
and with a remarkable, likely original, finish, the piece is estimated at $800,000/1.2 million* and will be a highlight of
the January sale of Important Americana.
Press Release New York For Immediate Release
New York | +1 212 606 7176 | Lauren Gioia | Lauren.Gioia@Sothebys.com | Blair Hance | Blair.Hance@Sothebys.com
Leslie Keno, Senior Vice President and Director of Sotheby’s
American Furniture and Decorative Arts
Department, stated: “It is truly a privilege for us to be able to offer
this supreme work of art on behalf of the family. This highly
sculptural masterpiece presents an extremely rare opportunity for
the collecting community to acquire an icon of American
craftsmanship.”
Bombé case furniture represents the most expensive type of furniture available in eastern Massachusetts during the
eighteenth century and was extremely labor-intensive to produce, the lower bulge of the chest requiring larger
mahogany planks. The piece retains a chalk inscription to the rear, “Edward Allen” – the name of a wealthy Salem
merchant who is believed to have been the original owner. The chest descended in Allen’s family until the early 20th
century, when it was gifted amongst other furnishings of a home on the North Shore of
Massachusetts to the family of the present owner. It has never before been published,
and until recently was entirely unknown to the American furniture community, having
remained on the North Shore since it was made. Of the approximately sixty pieces of
American bombé furniture known today, only seven chest-on-chests survive, with most
remaining in public collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia.
Made of thick boldly grained mahogany and exceptionally constructed, this chest
displays a dramatic well-proportioned design, which with its swan’s neck pediment, urn
and flame finials, fan-carved central drawer flanked by drawers paralleling the cornice,
fluted pilasters, and shaped lower case, follows a classic eastern Massachusetts cheston-
chest design with the additional rare refinement of the bombé lower case. This piece one of few surviving examples
of bombé case furniture from the colonial cabinetmaking center of Salem and has survived in remarkable condition, with
its original finials and brasses as well as an old and possibly original finish.
Sotheby’s Americana Week 2009 Schedule
Friday, January 23, 2:00pm – Important Americana, session 1 (comprising Chinese Export porcelain, silver and prints)
Saturday, January 24, 10:00am – The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III
Saturday, January 24, 2:00pm – Important Americana, session 2 (comprising furniture, folk art and carpets)
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium
