The Elizabeth White Hadley Chest

The Elizabeth White Hadley Chest, Hadley, Massachusetts, area, c. 1718, the top with chamfered edges and cleated ends, above the paneled case with incised and flat carving and beaded detail, the facade with three panels centering the initials "EW," above a drawer, on tall stile feet, old surface of dark red wash and black pigment, (imperfections and minor restoration), ht. 36 1/4, wd. 42 1/2, dp. 18 1/2 in.

Provenance: The chest descended through Elizabeth White's family as follows: Elizabeth White Montague (1695-1753), to her son, Major Richard Montague (1729-1794), to his daughter, Hanna Montague Gunn (1752-1836), to her daughter Fanny Gunn Graves (1793-1876), to her son, John Long Graves (1831-c. 1915), to his daughter, Gertrude Montague Graves (1863-c. 1939), to her sister, Louise Britton Graves (1867-c. 1962) on May 4, 1939, to her cousin Janet Bradlee (1916-1988) to her sister Jean Bradlee MacDonnell, to her son, the consignor.

Literature: Clair Franklin Luther, The Hadley Chest, (Hartford, Connecticut, 1935), discusses this chest and its history, p. 142.

Exhibitions: Concord Antiquarian Society, Concord, Massachusetts, 1939-1962, exhibited in The Seventeenth Century Room.

Note: Elizabeth White was born November 8, 1695, in Hadley, Massachusetts. She married Samuel Montague I, (1695-1789) in Sunderland, Massachusetts, January 24, 1718. Elizabeth died October 15, 1753, in Sunderland.