THE CALEB GARDNER FAMILY CHIPPENDALE TWO SHELL BONNET-TOP SECRETARY Newport, Rhode Island Circa 1765 Attributed to Daniel Spencer (1741-1796)
Primary Woods: Sabicu, Mahogany Secondary Woods: Cedar, Tulip Poplar, Chestnut
Height: 102 inches Width: 39 1/2 inches Depth: 23 1/2 inches
Provenance: Caleb Gardner (1739–1806), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to his daughter Mrs. Audley Clarke (nee Mary Gardner, 1776–1845), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to her son Peleg Clarke (1796–1887), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to his son Henry Audley Clarke (1832–1910), Newport, Rhode Island, and later Brooklyn, New York; by descent to his son Audley Clarke (1862–1947), Brooklyn, New York; by descent to his son Jeremiah Clarke (1897–1964), Old Brookville, New York; Ginsburg and Levy, Inc., New York, 1963.
Reference: Illustrated on pages 342 and 343 in Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport - The Townsends and the Goddards.
Caleb Gardner was an officer in the Revolution, a friend of George Washington, French Consul at Newport, and member of the Rhode Island State Government.Daniel Spencer likely trained with his uncle, John Goddard, in Newport. A signed desk and bookcase is known and a multitude of important Rhode Island pieces are attributed to him including the Nicholas Brown nine shell desk and bookcase in a private collection, the Jabez Bowen chest on chest at Chipstone, and the John Brown desk and bookcase at Yale. For remarkably similar carved shells, of the same design and large size, see the clothes press at Chipstone.
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