circa 1729, large rectangular composition of shells, beads, and other materials on a painted vermilion and indigo ground, mounted on a single white pine board, the central cartouche featuring coat of arms of Grant and Cookson, Cookson half with trapunto painted lion faces, Grant half with three beadwork rampant lions, flanked by lattice and rosette decoration, 20-1/2 x 61-1/4 in.; possibly original frame with carved decoration and textured and gilt fillet; both the mounting board and the frame are white pine, by micro analysis, 26-1/2 x 67-1/4 x 2-3/4 in.

Provenance: Collection of John B. and Marie-Teresa Vander Sande, Newbury, Massachusetts

Note: This extraordinary shell and beadwork composition was likely made to commemorate the marriage of Samuel Grant (1705-1784) to Elizabeth Cookson (1708-1778), recorded as having occurred on January 1st, 1729. Grant was an upholsterer based at the Crown and Cushion on Union Street in Boston, Massachusetts, where he catered to an elite clientele and was known for fastidious record keeping. He also served in a number of important official roles in Boston, such as town selectman in 1747 and 1757, and town moderator in 1768.

An exceptionally rare and possibly unique survival from early colonial Boston, this composition offers a rare window into the world of an upholsterer who may have made or commissioned this overmantle at the time of his marriage. The vermilion ground is in keeping with the work of some japanners of the period working in Boston, and it also may have been made by one of those craftsmen. The shell and beadwork also suggests a connection to the early shell, wax and rolled paper sconces of the period (Grant is recorded exporting beeswax to England, signaling his access to this material). This rare hatchment may have graced a dramatic and exotic interior that included such Japanned high chests and mirrors, or elaborate sconces. With its vermilion and indigo ground and rich, vibrant colors, this overmantle would have been a dynamic visual complement to a japanned high chest. The Grant and Cookson marriage and the likely timing of the creation of this hatchment coincided with a booming Boston economy as well as the height of taste for japanned furniture. The possible connection between japanners and this hatchment is suggested by John Gore, a successful japanner, who is recorded later in the century having painted and framed a coat of arms for £2.

More research may indicate that,  as an upholsterer, Grant may have been involved with creating or commissioning other parts of interiors that included objects like this one. More research will likely answer that question, and Grant's account books- along with those of his master Thomas Fitch- survive in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.  These account books record their interactions with the most prominent members of Boston’s elite class including the Apthorpes, Wendells, and Faneuils. The accounts indicate that, among other things, Grant supplied chairs and stools for the cabins of newly constructed ships. The bold shellwork composition of this hatchment may be a nod to his work with shipbuilders or to his family- Joseph Grant, Samuel's father, was a local shipbuilder. These Boston merchant's ships were often bound for other colonial ports and for the West Indies- perhaps Grant had connections to ports that were signaled by the extensive use of shellwork. Or it may have simply a nod to the exotic, perhaps even created a visual reference to the shellwork grottoes of fine English country houses.

For more on Samuel Grant and his role as a Boston upholsterer, see Brock Jobe, “The Boston Furniture Industry 1720-1740” in The Colonial Society of Massachusetts vol. 48. A brief excerpt:

“The papers of Thomas Fitch and Samuel Grant attest to the importance of the upholsterer in colonial Boston. Both men supplied not only expensive and fashionable furnishings to wealthy patrons throughout Massachusetts but also cloth, metalwares, and a wide variety of other dry goods to shopkeepers and country traders. Their careers demonstrate the close connection between the merchant and upholstery trades. The study of eighteenth-century upholsterers, however, is just beginning. Much more data is needed on the less affluent workmen in Boston, Salem, Portsmouth, Newport, and other New England towns, before we can understand how Thomas Fitch and Samuel Grant compared in their craft activities and level of success with others in the upholstery trade.

Most importantly, this study has documented the genesis of the Queen Anne style in Boston. Grant first recorded the production of a chair with a round seat in 1729 and one with horsebone feet in 1732. In the same year, William Randle billed Nathaniel Holmes for japanning a pedimented high chest, the earliest reference to the new style in case furniture. The initial creations of horsebone feet and pedimented high chests were to flower in the following years into the sophisticated Queen Anne furniture for which Boston craftsmanship is famous.”