STAIR
Live Auction

Americana

Sat, Aug 3, 2019 11:00AM EDT
Lot 1030

Augur-Duryee Queen Anne Cherry High Chest of Drawers, Probably by Aaron Booth, Windsor or East Windsor, Connecticut

Estimate: $25,000 - $45,000
Sold for

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $25
$200 $50
$500 $100
$3,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$30,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000

Back on top inscribed in chalk 'Aaron Booth', the bottom case with three small drawers numbered 1, 2, 3, proper left drawer marked 'L', proper right drawers marked 'R', top case drawer 1, 2, 3/4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Overall 89 x 39 1/4 x 21 1/2 in., case width of base 37 1/2 in., case width of upper case 35 in.

Note: This high chest with it's dramatically shaped apron appears to be associated to the Comstock Group as identified by Dr. Thomas Kugelman and Alice Kugelman with Robert Lionetti in their publication Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and his Contemporaries, 1750-1800, (Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society Museum and distributed by University Press of New England, 2005), pp. 118-20. The apron however is significantly more elaborate with a concavity and paired cyma scrolls beneath the bottom fan carved drawer. Further the knee returns are simple and not shaped as with the Comstock group. The finials, apron shape (minus the lobes), and knee returns directly relate this piece to the Windsor: Timothy Loomis Group (see ibid, pp. 93-100). A high chest that descended through the Wolcott family of East Windsor has a nearly identical finial, absent the carving, to those atop the Augur-Duryee high chest (see ibid, pp. 98-9, no. 40).The back board of the fan carved drawer in the upper case in inscribed Aaron Booth. The Booth family of cabinetmakers are well known for the works they crafted in Litchfield County, Connecticut. To date no Booths are known to have worked in the Windsor or Middletown areas. Surviving church records indicate however that an Aaron Booth married an Ann Nash on October 23, 1773 in Windsor-Bloomfield, Connecticut (see Frederic William Bailey, Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800, vol. 4, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1968, p. 119.

Probable line of descent; Lydia Auger (1754-1802), Milford, New Haven, CT; Lydia Auger Ives (1754-1802), Milford, New Haven, CT, daughter; Lydia Auger Budington (1821-1910), Milford, New Haven, CT and Schenectady, NY, daughter; Married Rev. Isaac Groot Duryee (1810-1866), Schenectady, NY; Helen Duryee (1843-1914), daughter; William Buddington Duryee (1847-1917), brother; William Buddington Duryee III (1927-1968), son; Ruth Duryee (1891-1962), Schenectady, NY, second cousin; Inherited by James and Allison Duryee.

Condition

Appears to retain its original cast brass hardware and turned and carved finials. Retains a dark early finish, possibly original. Evidence of old worming on the legs, lower side panels and one lower drawer front. Minor loss in the upper right cornice, and the central finial. Old repairs to the front legs. Not withstanding this report or any discussion concerning condition of a lot, all lots are offered and sold "as is" in accordance with our conditions of sale.