The Important Hussey Family Chippendale Carved and Highly Figured Mahogany Desk-and-Bookcase, probably Newburyport, Massachusetts, circa 1770

This desk-and-bookcase is in a remarkable state of preservation and appears to retain its original surface, cast brass hardware and carrying handles, and central pierced finial.

Silvanus Hussey Jr., Nantucket, MA;
Descended through the Hussey family until sold;
Private Collection, Richmond, VA;
Skinner's Inc., Bolton, Massachusetts, January 12, 1991;
Robert E. Crawford;
Sotheby's, New York, The Robert E. Crawford Collection, October 13, 2001, sale no. 7713, lot 263;
Private Collection

Secondary wood is white pine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Exhibiting an impressive presence, graceful proportions, and a successful decorative scheme, the Hussey Family secretary is an excellent example of a high-style desk-and-bookcase made in the northeastern urban coastal community of Newburyport, Massachusetts immediately prior to the American Revolution.  The successful balance between straight and curved elements achieved in this piece demonstrates that the craftsman was a master of cabinetmaking.  He had knowledge of fashionable styles and an eye for design-qualities desirable to collectors of high-style Massachusetts furniture.  The graduated drawers, fluted pilasters and scrolling pediment draw the eye of the viewer to the top of the piece, contributing to the impression of height and grandeur preferred by collectors of the high-style.

The piece's relationship to the Newburyport, Massachusetts style of the time is evident in many of its stylistic characteristics and construction methods.  The pierced and elongated bulbous-form finial, pinwheel rosettes, shaped bookcase door surrounds, treatment of the base, and organization of the desk interior are consistent with known pieces from this time and location.  The carved pinwheels were an extremely popular decorative element in Essex County, as well as carved fans with radiating segments with blunt lunette-shaped tips and the carved drop.  The Hussey Family Secretary is comparable to several desk-and-bookcases of the area and time period; notably one in the collection of Winterthur Museum¹, and two desk-and-bookcases linked to the shop of Abner Toppan of Newburyport.²

The regional attribution of the Hussey Family secretary is further supported by the Hussey family history.  The secretary was originally owned by Silvanus Hussey Junior (1734-1795), who was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts the son of Silvanus Hussey (1682-1760) and Hepzibah Starbuck Hussey (1700-1764.)  There is no clarification as to when Silvanus purchased or obtained the piece.

On December 2, 1756, Silvanus Hussey Jr. married Alice Grey, the daughter of Jeremiah Gray and Theodate Gray of Lynn, Massachusetts.  The couple lived in Lynn, Massachusetts but did not have any children before Alice Grey Hussey died around 1780.  At the time of his father's death in 1760, Sylvanus Hussey, Jr. was the recipient of a house on Nantucket Island under the terms of his father's will where he and his wife are known to have spent significant time.  A local diary records that Silvanus and Alice were in Nantucket in April of 1775, shortly before the beginning of the Revolution.

Following the death of his first wife, Alice, Silvanus Hussey, Jr. was remarried about 1782 to Lydia Wing, daughter of Samuel Wing and Hepsabeth Hathaway Wing of Sandwich, Massachusetts.  Samuel Wing was the son of Daniel Wing and Deborah Dillingham Wing.  Silvanus Hussey, Jr. and Lydia Wing Hussey had four children: Silvanus Hussey, born August 4, 1782, Samuel Wing Hussey, born August 12, 1784, George Frederick Hussey, born March 2, 1791, and William Hussey, born in 1794.  It is presumed the family's primary residence was in Lynn, Massachusetts as Silvanus Hussey, Jr. was enumerated as the head of a household in the 1790 census of Lynn, Massachusetts.³

On September 26, 1795, Sylvanus Hussey, Jr. died in Lynn of "putrid typhus fever," according to Folger genealogical records maintained by Nantucket Historical Society.  His death was reported in the August 5, 1795 edition of the "Columbia Centinel."  Lydia Wing Hussey died January 8, 1807.  This piece has remained in the Hussey family until it was sold at auction in 1991.

¹Nancy Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur, Queen Anne and Chippendale, Wilmington, Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 1997), pp. 443-5.
² Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture, The Colonial Era, Boston Massachusetts, Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, 1984), p. 30 and Morrison H Heckscher, American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Late Colonial Period: The Queen Anne and Chippendale Styles.  (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984), pp. 275-276.
³ "Heads of Households, Massachusetts, 1790," p 78.