Newport, Rhode Island Circa 1765
Attributed to Daniel Spencer (1741-1796)
Provenance: Caleb Gardner (1739–1806), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to his daughter Mrs. Audley Clarke (nee Mary Gardner, 1776–1845), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to her son Peleg Clarke (1796–1887), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to his son Henry Audley Clarke (1832–1910), Newport, Rhode Island, and later Brooklyn, New York; by descent to his son Audley Clarke (1862–1947), Brooklyn, New York; by descent to his son Jeremiah Clarke (1897–1964), Old Brookville, New York; Ginsburg and Levy, Inc., New York, 1963.
Reference: Illustrated on pages 342 and 343 in Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport – The Townsends and the Goddards.
Caleb Gardner was an officer in the Revolution, a friend of George Washington, French Consul at Newport, and member of the Rhode Island State Government.
Daniel Spencer likely trained with his uncle, John Goddard, in Newport. A signed desk and bookcase is known and a multitude of important Rhode Island pieces are attributed to him. Among the pieces are the Nicholas Brown nine shell desk and bookcase, the Jabez Bowen chest on chest at Chipstone, and the John Brown desk and bookcase at Yale. Perhaps the most similar example also with large well executed shells is the clothes press at Chipstone.
Inventory Number: C20
