From carved to painted: chests of central and coastal Connecticut, c. 1675-1725

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships among several groups of chests made in Connecticut during the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. The study focuses upon two groups of painted chests, designated into the Group I and Group II categories, from the Branford-Saybrook area along the coast. Primarily using evidence derived from the chests themselves, the study reveals two distinct patterns of production. The Group I chests, along with Sunflower chests (chests with carved and turned ornament from central Connecticut) and Guilford chests (painted chests from the Guilford-Saybrook area), form a shop tradition--one that maintained considerable continuity over time and space. In contrast, the Group II chests exemplify discontinuity in production. Both groups attest to the influence of woodworkers from Continental Europe and, more specifically, the Channel Islands--English owned islands off the coast of France--and lead to an investigation of the presence of French-speaking settlers, both Huguenots and Channel Islanders, in early Connecticut.