probably Guilford, Connecticut, late 17th century, two sections, carved oak, some applied elements possibly exotic hardwoods, relief carved friezes, top with single door trapezoidal cabinet, base with two door cabinet, lower section with engraved brass plaque to central top of base, note to proper left door interior, 53 x 49-1/2 x 20-1/4 in.

Provenance: Acquired through possible descent from the family of Thomas Vinson of Martha's Vineyard to Harriet Marshall Pease or Maria Thurston Pease of Edgartown, Mass., between 1913 and 1919; acquired by Charles Woolsey Lyon, New York City; Purchased from Charles Woolsey Lyon in 1919; Property from the Brooklyn Museum

Note: Note to door interior discusses ownership history and research (see photo). Plaque reads "Ancient Cupboard once the property of Thomas Vincent of Martha's Vineyard Sept. 15 1656 to abt. 1743. Great great great grandfather of Harriet Marshall Pease".

This cupboard is one of five closely related examples, four of which, including this example, are discussed by Patricia E. Kane in "Furniture of the New Haven Colony: The Seventeenth-Century Style". One is at the Stowe-Day Foundation in Hartford, one at the Adam Stanton House in Clinton, Connecticut; the third is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the fifth cupboard is known only by photos and descended in the family of John Eliot. The similarities between those cupboards and this example are such that Kane questions the traditional Massachusetts origin of this cupboard.

Construction and decorative techniques characteristic of this group of cupboards include foliated S-scrolls drawn with a compass, a great torus molding that incorporates a drawer, cylindrical balusters that form the corner posts of the frieze, moldings and ornaments secured with wooden pegs. In this particular cupboard, the long spindles on the front and rear stiles are different than the other cupboards in this group but are found on two other cupboards with drawers, also attributed to Guilford, both of which are at Yale University. The S-scroll decoration of the cornice is interrupted here by triglyphs also seen on the cupboard at the Metropolitan Museum and on a chest with a drawer, illustrated in Luke Vincent Lockwood, "Colonial Furniture in America", (1901) fig 5, p. 19.

The overall form of this small group of cupboards shows the influence of London design while the decorative elements reflect both London and provincial traditions, discussed in detail by Frances Gruber Safford, "American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Early Colonial Period The Seventeenth-Century and William and Mary Styles" (2007), pp. 280-283.

Exhibited: "Furniture of the New Haven Colony: the Seventeenth Century Style", New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, CT, April 15-Sept 9, 1973; "New Haven Colony Furniture", New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, CT, April 15-August 31, 1973.

Literature: Wallace Nutting, "Furniture of the Pilgrim Century" (Marshall Jones Company, Boston, 1921), p. 126.; Patricia E. Kane, "Furniture of the New Haven Colony: The Seventeenth-Century Style" (New Haven, 1973), cat. no. XI, pp. 30-31.