Attributing a vernacular six-board chest.(a study on the possibility of attributing two pieces of vernacular furniture to John Knowlton)

This study will focus on two objects produced in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in the seventeenth-century--a six-board chest (Fig. 1) and a lintel board (see Fig. 2). It is our objective to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that they were both made by the same man, John Knowlton, and, by extension, that it is possible to attribute pieces of vernacular furniture to a specific carpenter.

Generally, surviving seventeenth-century case furniture from the North Shore of Massachusetts is considered the work of the joiner. (1) However, as the majority of furniture designed for everyday use in the seventeenth century was probably of simple board construction, the question arises: Who was responsible for making these vernacular pieces? According to the furniture historian Benno M. Forman, carpenters were the first woodworkers to practice their trade in colonial settlements. (2) He suggested that they were more than capable of constructing sophisticated furniture, as they framed houses with joints more complex and clever than any used in furniture. It is our contention that carpenters made furniture that was simple in form and construction while still displaying some appreciation of aesthetics.

We believe that the scratch-carved and punchwork-decorated six-board pine chest in Figure 1 can be firmly attributed to ...