1760-1780, original brasses, deeply scrolled shaped overhanging top, four long graduated drawers, ogee bracket feet with scrolled returns, white pine secondary, early paper label to backboard reads "This bureau was given me by Uncle Henry for my Name-Mary Edwards probably it was his mother's and then his sister's whose name was Mary Edwards", 33 x 35-3/4 x 20-1/4 in., case 32-1/2 in. wide x 17-1/4 in. deep

Provenance: Descended directly in the family of Henry Leavitt Goodwin who probably inherited the chest from his father, Oliver Goodwin, who probably inherited the chest from his father George Goodwin, one of the founders of the Hartford Courant. Henry Leavitt Goodwin was born November 25, 1821 and died March 17, 1898. Purchased directly from descendant of Henry Leavitt Goodwin; Nathan Liverant and Son, Colchester, Connecticut, April 2000 (accompanied by copy of receipt for $250,000); Estate of Richard and Shirley Roberts, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Literature: Deanne Levison, "Living with Antiques: A Collection on the Chesapeake Bay", The Magazine Antiques (December 2001), p. 810, pl. XI.

Note: Similar examples are illustrated in Michael K. Brown, "Scalloped Top Furniture of the Connecticut Valley" The Magazine Antiques (May 1980), pp. 1092-1099; Kevin M. Sweeney, "Furniture and Furniture Making in Mid-Eighteenth Century Wethersfield, Connecticut", The Magazine Antiques (May 1984), pp. 1156-1163; Dean A. Fales, Jr., The Furniture of Historic Deerfield (1976), pp.186-188.