Rare Dated North Carolina Paint Decorated Dated Blanket Chest
probably Chatham County, yellow pine throughout, six board dovetailed construction, green paint with yellow and red decoration, front decorated with "Meniza Wilson" inscribed above a plaited basket, dated 1846, blue undercoat, 24-3/4 x 47-1/4 x 18-1/4 in.
Provenance: According to the consignor, the chest came from a family by the name of Cooke in Cary. The chest never left Wake County with the exception for when it was sold by a picker in the neighboring Johnston County; Private Collection, North Carolina
Note: This chest was probably commemorating the first birthday of Meniza Hawkins Seagroves (Wilson), born in 1845 in Panther Branch Township, Wake County, NC. Her parents were William Jackson Seagraves and Mary Ann Seagraves. They lived in the Western Division of Wake County in the 1850 census and the Southern Division in the 1860 census. Meniza was married in 1861 when the family lived near Southwest Wake. Meniza married James Louis Wilson (1836-1913) in Wake County on July 4th, 1861, his parents were James Wilson (1807-1896) and Charity O'Quin (1802-1878), born in Cumberland County, died in Wake.
Examples with similar features such as plaited baskets and delicate foliate flourishes distinguish a group of similar chests from Chatham County, discussed in June Lucas, Paint-Decorated Furniture from Piedmont North Carolina (2009), The Chipstone Foundation, figs. 54 and 56.
https://chipstone.org/article.php/598/American-Furniture-2009/Paint-Decorated-Furniture-from-Piedmont-North-Carolina
probably Chatham County, yellow pine throughout, six board dovetailed construction, green paint with yellow and red decoration, front decorated with "Meniza Wilson" inscribed above a plaited basket, dated 1846, blue undercoat, 24-3/4 x 47-1/4 x 18-1/4 in.
Provenance: According to the consignor, the chest came from a family by the name of Cooke in Cary. The chest never left Wake County with the exception for when it was sold by a picker in the neighboring Johnston County; Private Collection, North Carolina
Note: This chest was probably commemorating the first birthday of Meniza Hawkins Seagroves (Wilson), born in 1845 in Panther Branch Township, Wake County, NC. Her parents were William Jackson Seagraves and Mary Ann Seagraves. They lived in the Western Division of Wake County in the 1850 census and the Southern Division in the 1860 census. Meniza was married in 1861 when the family lived near Southwest Wake. Meniza married James Louis Wilson (1836-1913) in Wake County on July 4th, 1861, his parents were James Wilson (1807-1896) and Charity O'Quin (1802-1878), born in Cumberland County, died in Wake.
Examples with similar features such as plaited baskets and delicate foliate flourishes distinguish a group of similar chests from Chatham County, discussed in June Lucas, Paint-Decorated Furniture from Piedmont North Carolina (2009), The Chipstone Foundation, figs. 54 and 56.
https://chipstone.org/article.php/598/American-Furniture-2009/Paint-Decorated-Furniture-from-Piedmont-North-Carolina
