On March 4 at society headquarters at 138 Main Street, Regina Madigan made a presentation on the eighteenth-century cherry high chest of drawers donated to the society by the Root family of Farmington in 2000.

Madigan, society board member and a resident of Unionville, is an appraiser of antiques and fine arts. She has been working in the field for over thirty years. She began her career working with museums, then went on to the auction and appraisal business for 16 years, and for the last 12 years has been doing strictly appraisal work. She provides estate, insurance and donation appraisals for museum collections, banks, law firms and private individuals throughout the Northeast region.

In addition to society members and guests, representatives of the Root family attended, and their discussion of genealogy and family stories was a nice complement to Ms. Madigan’s discussion of this important piece. 

The beautiful high chest descended in the Root family and stood in their Farmington homestead on Main Street, now part of the Lewis-Walpole Library of Yale University, until it was sent to Dr. Mary Root in Indiana in 1983, upon the death of her mother, Alice Root.

Although she lived and practiced medicine in Indianapolis most of her life, Mary Root maintained a strong feeling of connection with her native town. In the 1990s she visited Farmington several times and spoke with Peg Yung, vice president of the society, about her concern for the disposition of the high chest after her death. She was reluctant to leave it to Yale, though Yale owned the much-renovated house where the chest had stood for so long, because she feared it might be put in storage. Dr. Root wanted the chest on permanent display and believed that the Farmington Historical Society was the appropriate caretaker and the cottage at 138 Main Street the best place for its permanent home.

Madigan briefly surveyed the styles and associated dates of American furniture, and discussed the currently accepted terminology for those styles and how and where the high chest fits into those styles.

She explained that the characteristics of the late baroque high chest relate to the Wethersfield style of the eighteenth-century Connecticut furniture, as identified in the 2005 comprehensive survey of Connecticut case furniture, "Connecticut Valley Furniture," published by the Connecticut Historical Society Museum. The book was written by Thomas P. Kugelman and Alice K. Kugelman with Robert L. Lionetti; it was edited by Susan P. Schoelwer, director of museum collections at the Connecticut Historical Society Museum.

Madigan noted the special features of the cherry high chest that add to its elegant simplicity: the carved sunburst in the upper case, the shaping of the apron and the legs, the carving of the lower fan and recess below the fan, and the double ogee shaping on the sides. The position of the brasses on the upper case, where they are set in slightly from those below, adds a graceful element to this important piece. Unfortunately, the brackets are missing at the top of the legs; hopefully these can be restored.

Comparing the bottom of the drawers in the upper and lower cases, Madigan pointed out the different levels of oxidation. The color of the lower drawer, exposed to the air for over 240 years, is much darker than the color on the upper drawer, which was protected by the surrounding case. It was pointed out that one of the top drawers bears an inscription with the initials SR and a date of 1785, which, most likely, was an owner’s mark.

After considering the elements of style and construction characteristic of the high chest and reviewing the genealogy in the file at the historical society, Madigan felt that the chest could have been made in 1764 for the marriage of Mary Langdon (1745-1836) and Capt. Timothy Root (1740-1815). She noted that the high chest is very similar to those in the “Francis Group”, as outlined in "Connecticut Valley Furniture," and especially to one in the collection of the Wethersfield Historical Society, possibly made in 1762 to commemorate a marriage. Although the piece in the Wethersfield Historical Society has a different upper drawer configuration and lacks the sunburst, many construction and stylistic elements are the same.

A question from the audience was answered by Nick Kotula, a furniture conservator and appraiser from Bloomfield. What sort of furniture polish should be used on fine old furniture? According to Kotula, the best product is Renaissance Wax, developed by the British Museum and sold by Woodcraft Corp. Nick has been asked this question so many times that he has memorized the phone number. Call 1-800-225-1153. They will ask you for the catalog number. It's 08G22 (that's a zero at the beginning). Ask them to send the brochure, too. It will tell you all about the product.

A descendant of Salmon Root wrote to the Farmington Historical Society on November 13, 2007: "I was looking at your very nice Web site when I came across the photo of the Root family chest. Imagine my surprise to see my great-grandfather's work displayed in your museum! The maker of the chest is Salmon Root; hence the "SR." I have a roll-top desk made by his son, Byington Root, who was born in Farmington in 1800 and died in Minnesota in 1890. The work of both men was similar and a furniture maker of today would recognize their style."

Photos by Brooke E. Martin. Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008