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Lot Essay
"Of all the freehand painters of [t]his period I admire his designs and technique the most." Letter, Nina Fletcher Little to Peter Goodman, 2 January 1982.
Distinctively adorned with three whimsical birds among foliate and scrolled motifs, this box was painted by the same decorator who in the late eighteenth century embellished the wooden sheathing that adorned the dining room in the Goodmans' Mill River home (see illustration in “Artisan and Artist,” essay at the beginning of this catalogue; Margaret Coffin, Borders and Scrolls: Early American Brush-Stroke Wall Painting 1790-1820 (Albany, 1986), pp. 25, 37, 60-61, pl. 24).
The decorator of this box is thought to have been responsible for as many as 17 surviving interiors from Western Massachusetts and adjacent areas in New York and Connecticut. One of these is the wooden sheathing that adorned the tap room of the Abel Chapin house built circa 1740 in Chicopee, Massachusetts. This house was purchased by the Goodmans and moved to Mill River, where they painstakingly removed the grime and dirt to reveal the vibrant designs (see illustration in “Artisan and Artist,” essay at the beginning of this catalogue; Margaret Coffin, Borders and Scrolls: Early American Brush-Stroke Wall Painting 1790-1820 (Albany, 1986), pp. 25, 37, 60-61, pl. 24). As owners of one of this craftsman’s most well-preserved wall decoration, the Goodmans no doubt were keen to acquire this example of his painted furniture. A closely related box lined with newspaper dated 1806 is in the collection of Historic New England (acc. no. 1992.643) (see Ruth Wolfe, "Nina Fletcher Little: Bridging the Worls of Antiques and Folk Art," Folk Art (Summer 1997), p. 34).
As early as 1964, Noah Graves was postulated as the decorator of these interiors. The attribution was made by Nina Fletcher Little when she donated a wall section from the Oliver Williams Inn in Sunderland to Historic New England; however, no supporting evidence is known and her later writings and donations refer to the same body of work as by an unidentified artist. Subsequent publications have reiterated the Graves name, noted he hailed from Sunderland and identified his life dates as 1751 to 1819 (Linda Lefko, “A Name for a Scrollwork Artist…,” Plaster Bits (Center for Painted Wall Preservation), available at antiquehomesmagazine.com; William Hosley, The Great River: Art and Society of the Connecticut Valley, 1635-1820 (1985), p 89). Further complicating any attribution are the advertisements of another Noah Graves for “House and Sign Painting” in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1823 and 1828 (Hampden Journal and Advertiser, April 2, 1823, p. 3; Springfield Republican, March 26, 1828, p. 4). This second Noah Graves is probably the man who married Mary Sears in Springfield in 1825, but no genealogical ties have been found between the two men of the same name. It is possible that there were two painters named Noah Graves or that the decorator of these forms was the younger Graves. Regardless, without concrete evidence linking either man to these works, the attribution remains speculative.
Distinctively adorned with three whimsical birds among foliate and scrolled motifs, this box was painted by the same decorator who in the late eighteenth century embellished the wooden sheathing that adorned the dining room in the Goodmans' Mill River home (see illustration in “Artisan and Artist,” essay at the beginning of this catalogue; Margaret Coffin, Borders and Scrolls: Early American Brush-Stroke Wall Painting 1790-1820 (Albany, 1986), pp. 25, 37, 60-61, pl. 24).
The decorator of this box is thought to have been responsible for as many as 17 surviving interiors from Western Massachusetts and adjacent areas in New York and Connecticut. One of these is the wooden sheathing that adorned the tap room of the Abel Chapin house built circa 1740 in Chicopee, Massachusetts. This house was purchased by the Goodmans and moved to Mill River, where they painstakingly removed the grime and dirt to reveal the vibrant designs (see illustration in “Artisan and Artist,” essay at the beginning of this catalogue; Margaret Coffin, Borders and Scrolls: Early American Brush-Stroke Wall Painting 1790-1820 (Albany, 1986), pp. 25, 37, 60-61, pl. 24). As owners of one of this craftsman’s most well-preserved wall decoration, the Goodmans no doubt were keen to acquire this example of his painted furniture. A closely related box lined with newspaper dated 1806 is in the collection of Historic New England (acc. no. 1992.643) (see Ruth Wolfe, "Nina Fletcher Little: Bridging the Worls of Antiques and Folk Art," Folk Art (Summer 1997), p. 34).
As early as 1964, Noah Graves was postulated as the decorator of these interiors. The attribution was made by Nina Fletcher Little when she donated a wall section from the Oliver Williams Inn in Sunderland to Historic New England; however, no supporting evidence is known and her later writings and donations refer to the same body of work as by an unidentified artist. Subsequent publications have reiterated the Graves name, noted he hailed from Sunderland and identified his life dates as 1751 to 1819 (Linda Lefko, “A Name for a Scrollwork Artist…,” Plaster Bits (Center for Painted Wall Preservation), available at antiquehomesmagazine.com; William Hosley, The Great River: Art and Society of the Connecticut Valley, 1635-1820 (1985), p 89). Further complicating any attribution are the advertisements of another Noah Graves for “House and Sign Painting” in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1823 and 1828 (Hampden Journal and Advertiser, April 2, 1823, p. 3; Springfield Republican, March 26, 1828, p. 4). This second Noah Graves is probably the man who married Mary Sears in Springfield in 1825, but no genealogical ties have been found between the two men of the same name. It is possible that there were two painters named Noah Graves or that the decorator of these forms was the younger Graves. Regardless, without concrete evidence linking either man to these works, the attribution remains speculative.