Brunk auctions in March - a nice collection of period furniture & more
[a short post about an upcoming auction of a collection of 17th century New England furniture [& more]. A few highlights and a link to the online catalogue.]
These days one place I get to see lots of period pieces in detail is online auction listings. I don’t keep track of many of them, but this is one collection that Bob Trent & I visited a number of times over the years. John Vander Sande passed away last year and today Andrew Brunk sent me a note to let me know the catalogue for that collection’s auction is now posted online https://live.brunkauctions.com/auctions/brunk/vander-sande-collection-session-i-march-12-2025-17333
John and his wife Marie hosted Trent and I a number of times over the years to show us their collection. It grew and grew, I hadn’t kept up with them in a while. So there’s great things to see in the online catalogue. Here’s a few of them.
This is one of my all-time favorites. Trent & I first saw it at Yale one day, the then-owner brought it in so we could see it. Instantly recognizable as the work of Thomas Dennis of Ipswich, Massachusetts (working there mid-1660s-1706). The kicker is its size- only 5” high, 7 1/2” x 13 1/4”. The only small New England box I’ve ever seen. (there’s another Thomas Dennis one in the wind somewhere, known from an early photograph.)
All that’s missing are its cleats - and the lid has been re-hinged. All oak. I’ve made boxes based on it since Trent & I first saw it. Dug out my notes - it was 2009.
The Essex County shop that made all those elaborate cupboards I’ve written about is well-represented in the collection. At least three chests. Here’s one
That chest has initials & date: “IC 1701” - that “I” could be an I, could be for the letter J also. The painted “plaid” pattern shows up on a few of these chests. Trent and I never got to write our planned “part 2” about this Essex County shop - there’s so many objects it’s astounding.
Another from that shop -
That one was illustrated by Wallace Nutting in his Furniture of the Pilgrim Century as fig. 60, it then belonged to Boston collector Dwight Blaney.
A couple of things about it - one, squiggle paint! It mostly shows up on the ends - all over the panels & framing.
And the back section has one large horizontal panel - which I just assume will be pine - but this one’s oak.
And one more item. if you like these, spend some time looking through the website. The catalogue has multiple views of each piece. Trent & I wrote an article about Boston furniture maybe 15 years ago - hard to believe it’s been that long. This small cabinet is included in that article. It’s only about 18” tall, 16” wide and 8” deep.
Behind that door are 7 small drawers - a rare furniture form both now & in the 17th century. Don’t even really know what it was called. I’ve seen the phrase “A case of drawers…” in Essex County inventories - which at the same time included “chest of drawers” - meaning one is different from the other. The value of the first one was lumped with other stuff, so no indication as to its significance.
Those are just some of the highlights of the sale - do have a look if you want to see more oak furniture & related 17th century stuff - ceramics, textiles, etc. Here’s the link again - https://live.brunkauctions.com/auctions/brunk/vander-sande-collection-session-i-march-12-2025-17333
I’m making one of those small boxes lately, that’ll be my next post.
Hi Peter, after the bigger boxes this one seems so petit, almost dainty. I remember carving the design on the front with you in the class last year. I reversed the direction of the scrolls. In hindsight I think Thomas Dennis got it right.
I once saw a “case of drawers” referred to as a “cupboard” which seemed awkward. I recently built a (more rustic) one to hold nails and screws in my shop. I just refer to it as a “ cabinet” - though I have no idea if that’s any better.