$12,000
Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000
American Furniture, Decorative & Folk Art
Auction: April 19, 2016 11:00:00 AM EDT
With shell-carved knees and tall trifid feet, appears to retain original hardware.
H: 75 in. W: 41 1/2 in. D: 23 in.Provenance: Descended in the Wells Family to the present owner.
By tradition, originally owned by Rachel Hill (1734-1796) and Richard Wells (1734-1801), who married at Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in 1759. Hand-written paper label affixed to backboard, "Property of John Drew Wells Address 6364 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia."
Merchant of European and Indian goods and an inventor, Wells was active in Quaker and civic affairs, and served as Director of the Library Company and Secretary of the American Philiosophical Society. His life is detailed in Bell, Whitfield Jenks. Patriot Improvers: Biographical Sketches of Members of the Philosophical Society (1997).