Attributing a vernacular six-board chest.(a study on the possibility of attributing two pieces of vernacular furniture to John Knowlton) From: The Magazine Antiques | Date: May 1, 2007| Author: Mingin, Gerald C.; Vander Sande, John B. | COPYRIGHT 2007 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

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 Massachuse...