Important Pair Newport John Goddard Attributed Chippendale Side Chairs

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Estate of Richard and Shirley Roberts, Virgin...

By Brunk Auctions

Oct 29, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-10-29 10:15:00 2026-10-29 10:15:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Estate of Richard and Shirley Roberts, Virginia Beach, Virginia | October 29, 2026 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/brunk/estate-of-richard-and-shirley-roberts-virginia-beach-virginia-october-29-2026-23916
Dick & Shirley Roberts assembled a world-class collection of American furniture, paintings, maps, early Catesby prints, silver and porcelain, working with top dealers including Israel Sack, Liverant & Son, Deanne Levison, Arader, Shrubsole and others. Major centers of furniture making are represented: Boston, Portsmouth, Newport, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Charleston, with paintings by Jane Peterson, JC Beckwith, Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf & Edmund Tarbell, among others. Silver by John Ewan, John Carter, Robert Reading, extensive selection of Francis I pattern; and early Chinese export. Brunk Auctions support@brunkauctions.com

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• Lot Description

  circa 1765, dense and rich red brown mahogany, deeply carved raised arch shell to crest rails, pierced vasiform splats, trapezoidal seat frames, front cabriole legs with anthemion knee carvings, ball and claw feet, baluster and block turned side stretchers, marked "XII" and XIII", 38-3/4 x 21-3/4 x 20-3/4 in, seat height 17-1/2 in.

  Provenance: By descent through three generations of the Charles Morris Smith Family, Providence, Rhode Island; Sotheby's, New York, NY, "Important American Furniture, Decorations, Silver and Chinese Export Porcelain," January 28, 1984, lot 865; The Hascoe Family, Greenwich Connecticut; Sotheby's, New York, NY, "Property from the Hascoe Family Collection, Important American and English Furniture, Fine and Decorative Art", January 23, 2011, lot 34; Levison & Cullen Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, January 2013 (accompanied by copy of invoice); Estate of Richard and Shirley Roberts, Virginia Beach, Virginia

  Literature: Illustrated in Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (1984), pl. 21, p. 236, fig. 5.24/5.24a.

  Note: These chairs are part of a set of at least fourteen chairs, now with only six surviving, one (marked 'I') which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum (illustrated in Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1985), pp.44-45, cat. no. 9. Notably, the set is unusual among Rhode Island cabriole-leg chairs in having square seat frames and anthemion-like relief carving on the sharp-edged knees.

  In characteristic manner, the feet of these chairs display balls proportionally wider than they are tall, slender and elongated talons, delineated knuckles with the rear talon meeting the ankle in a rounded joint, and a flattened area between the tendons of the ankle. These same feet appear in a corner chair and table made for John Brown in 1760 and a tea table made for Jabez Bowen in 1763 (see: Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture: Early American [1993], p. 67 and Nancy Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur: Queen Anne and Chippendale, [1997], pp. 238-239, cat.no. 123).

  This pair of chairs descended in the family of Charles Morris Smith (b. 1838), a Rhode Island financier, and were passed down in the family home at 112 Benevolent Street in Providence until their initial sale in 1984. The original set of chairs was probably made for John Still Winthrop (1720-1776), the great-grandson of Quaker colonist Governor John Winthrop (1588-1649). A resident of New London, Connecticut, Winthrop had strong ties to nearby Newport; his sister, Mary, married Joseph Wanton (1705-1780), the last colonial governor of Rhode Island. Charles Morris Smith's grandfather, Amos Denison Smith, was a landowner in Groton, Connecticut, where the Winthrop family also owned real estate.

  The four remaining known chairs from the original set of 14 include the chair at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, two that were sold at Christie's, New York, NY, "Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts", October 5, 2000, lots 95 and 96, and a single chair sold Sotheby's, New York, NY, "Property From The Hascoe Family Collection: Important American And English Furniture, Fine & Decorative Arts", January 23, 2011, lot 65.

• Provenance

  By descent through three generations of the Charles Morris Smith Family, Providence, Rhode Island; Sotheby's, New York, NY, "Important American Furniture, Decorations, Silver and Chinese Export Porcelain," January 28, 1984, lot 865; The Hascoe Family, Greenwich Connecticut; Sotheby's, New York, NY, "Property from the Hascoe Family Collection, Important American and English Furniture, Fine and Decorative Art", January 23, 2011, lot 34; Levison & Cullen Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, January 2013 (accompanied by copy of invoice); Estate of Richard and Shirley Roberts, Virginia Beach, Virginia

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• Buyer's Premium
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• Condition
  in very good condition overall, repairs and infill at one crest rail attachment, typical minor restorations such as later bracket returns and one rear foot, later slip seat frames, typical stress cracks to mahogany, one chair now with scattered finish distress at splat (see photos)； per Sotheby's condition report in 2011 "chair XII： proper right rear heel cracked and reglued and pinned, rear seat rail, shoe, splat and crest rail numbered VI, partially repinned, slip seat frame replaced chair XIII： rear seat rail, shoe, splat and crest rail marked XI, proper right rear heel cracked, reglued and repinned, proper side knee return replaced, repinned, wear to central stretcher, slip seat frame replaced one chair bearing Roman numeral XIII on inner seat frame, the other chair bearing the number XII, each with identifying assembly Roman numerals on the backside, crest, seat rail and shoe" Note - Brunk Auctions makes every effort to offer accurate and thorough information, but encourages prospective bidders to inspect items in person whenever possible. Condition statements are provided as a courtesy for general guidance and should not be considered complete or definitive. They do not represent a warranty or assumption of liability by Brunk Auctions. Certain condition issues may not be specifically noted in the report but may be visible in the accompanying photographs, which are considered part of the overall condition report. Please refer to our Terms of Sale for complete information and contact us for additional photos or information as needed.