AFA Autumn 2019

Autumn 76 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com Attributed to Major John Dunlap (1746–1792), Chest-on-chest-on-frame, 1775–1790, probably New Bedford, N.H., ca. 1820. Maple, painted. H. 77, W. 36½, D. 19¾ in. Carolyn and Peter Lynch Collection. “Whale tail” carvings on the cornice, a moustache-like motif at the skirt, and the condensed cabriole legs of this chest are hallmarks of furniture made by the Dunlap family of cabinetmakers for their rural New Hampshire clients. In the early nineteenth century the chest was updated with a grained surface to keep up with the trend for “fancy painting.” The case is made from maple, but has been painted to suggest a lively crotched veneer. The Lynches acquired the chest from the estate of well-known folk art collectors and scholars Bert and Nina Fletcher Little.