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Lot Essay
A vibrant illustration of American fancy furniture, this dressing table is one of a group of nine tables from Sullivan County, New Hampshire described by Richard Miller as “among the most stylish and innovative examples of the form from New England” (Richard Miller, “Fancy Dressing Tables from Sullivan, New Hampshire,” Americana Insights, p. 20, online journal, available at americanainsights.com, accessed 4 January 2022). Three of the other examples are variously signed by David Harris, Martin Bullock and David Colby, and this example, signed by Suel Freeman Dodge (1810-1866), adds a fourth name to these affiliated craftsmen. Miller notes that the common thread among the other three may be the Newport cabinetshop of Willard Harris (1782-1848) and David Harris (Willard’s son), Bullock and Colby may have made or decorated their tables while working in this shop. Illustrating a chest-of-drawers with two-drawer superstructure and scrolled splashboard similar to those on the tables and prominently advertising “Dressing Tables” and “ornamental painting,” an 1828 advertisement for the Harris shop indicates it was capable of making these forms (Miller, p. 11, fig. 10). Furthermore, one of Harris’ known workmen, Simon Dodge, may have been Suel’s uncle of the same name, who was born in 1781 and died in 1817, or another family relative.
The group displays a remarkable degree of consistency in form and decoration, further increasing the likelihood that they were made in close proximity to each other. The most notable differences among the group are the superstructures that on the early examples, as seen here, feature a straight-fronted two-drawer unit, while on later examples encompass a sweeping gallery with two small end drawers. Other examples from the group include tables at the New Hampshire Historical Society (acc. nos. 1933.005.01, signed by Harris, and 1981.032, signed by Bullock) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1971.180.39). For more on the group and the Harris workshop, see Miller, op. cit., pp. 1-23 and Donna-Belle Garvin, “A ‘Neat and Lively Aspect’: Newport, New Hampshire as a Cabinetmaking Center,” Historical New Hampshire, vol. 43, no. 3 (Fall 1988), pp. 202-224).
Suel Freeman Dodge was born in Grantham, New Hampshire, the son of Richard and Lavina (Ellis) Dodge and lived most of his life in the vicinity. As this table demonstrates, he was in Newport, approximately thirteen miles south of Grantham in 1830. Five years later, he married Salome Bickford in nearby Croydon where he formed a partnership with Jesse F. Wilson. Upon the dissolution of this partnership in 1836, Dodge advertised that he performed “house, carriage, sign, and ornamental painting, also imitation painting of either wood or marble” as well as making cabinet furniture and chairs (U.S. Craftsperson Files, 1600-1995, Winterthur Museum, available at ancestry.com). By 1840, he was in Wendell where in 1850 his occupation is listed as “painter” in the Federal Census. Dodge died in 1866 and is buried in Nashua’s Englewood cemetery.
The group displays a remarkable degree of consistency in form and decoration, further increasing the likelihood that they were made in close proximity to each other. The most notable differences among the group are the superstructures that on the early examples, as seen here, feature a straight-fronted two-drawer unit, while on later examples encompass a sweeping gallery with two small end drawers. Other examples from the group include tables at the New Hampshire Historical Society (acc. nos. 1933.005.01, signed by Harris, and 1981.032, signed by Bullock) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1971.180.39). For more on the group and the Harris workshop, see Miller, op. cit., pp. 1-23 and Donna-Belle Garvin, “A ‘Neat and Lively Aspect’: Newport, New Hampshire as a Cabinetmaking Center,” Historical New Hampshire, vol. 43, no. 3 (Fall 1988), pp. 202-224).
Suel Freeman Dodge was born in Grantham, New Hampshire, the son of Richard and Lavina (Ellis) Dodge and lived most of his life in the vicinity. As this table demonstrates, he was in Newport, approximately thirteen miles south of Grantham in 1830. Five years later, he married Salome Bickford in nearby Croydon where he formed a partnership with Jesse F. Wilson. Upon the dissolution of this partnership in 1836, Dodge advertised that he performed “house, carriage, sign, and ornamental painting, also imitation painting of either wood or marble” as well as making cabinet furniture and chairs (U.S. Craftsperson Files, 1600-1995, Winterthur Museum, available at ancestry.com). By 1840, he was in Wendell where in 1850 his occupation is listed as “painter” in the Federal Census. Dodge died in 1866 and is buried in Nashua’s Englewood cemetery.