more Plymouth Colony furniture

Recently I posted some pictures of and comments about some decorated joined chests from Plymouth Colony. A friend commented, asking if there was carved furniture from there. “Some” is the answer. This post will continue looking at the broader picture of Plymouth Colony furniture. If people like it, I’ll keep doing more like this. I might keep on even if people don’t like, because I like it.

Plymouth Colony existed from 1620 until it was subsumed by Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1690s. It covered a large area - most of what is now southeastern Massachusetts. There were many joiners’ and carpenters’ shops in that space and time - we have very little knowledge of who-made-what in that area. There’s lots of identified groups of furniture with either family histories or “recovery” histories that tie them to the Colony. And lots of period documents that identify people as joiners and carpenters. Putting the two together is tough.

I’ll start with the two most typical carved chests from the area. They might even be from Kingston, the town I live in:

carved chest, maybe Kingston, Ply Colony Wadsworth Atheneum collection

That carved chest, with a frame-and-panel lid, is one of two. The other is in a private collection and it’s the one that was collected in Kingston sometime in the early 20th century. It has a carved panel that always encourages me. Take your time figuring out which one & why.