Signed Tennessee Gothic Revival sideboard, walnut, poplar and butternut with flamed mahogany veneers and white marble top, inscribed underneath " McCombs " over "C [orne] lius" in red joiner's pencil (attr. James. W. McCombs, cabinetmaker working Nashville c. 1820-1850, and William R. Cornelius, working in partnership with McCombs 1850-1853 in Nashville at Cherry and Spring Street). The white marble top sits atop an ogee molded frieze with three short drawers, over four cabinet doors with Gothic arches flanked by molded stiles. Shaped ogee bracket feet. Plain sides. Retains old brass half sphere castors. 47 1/4" H x 61 7/8" W x 22" D. Circa 1850. Provenance: estate of Sarah Hunter Hicks Green of Nashville, descended in her family from John Davis (1770-1853), an early settler of Nashville. Exhibited, Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, "Made in Tennessee" exhibit, Sept. 15-Oct. 31, 1971, ref. catalog, p. 22 fig. 25. A copy of this exhibition catalog is included with the sideboard. Sideboard is also published in The Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture by Nathan Harsh and Derita Coleman, p. 156 fig. 176. Provenance: the estate of Sarah Hunter Hicks Green, formerly of Historic Devon Farm, Nashville, Tennessee. (Higher-resolution photos are available at www.caseantiques.com)
Condition
Holes at rear edge of marble indicate sideboard may originally had a gallery or top section. Some light stains and minor chips to marble. Several scattered veneer chips, particularly to the base and corners, frieze above drawers, and the tops of the two center doors, largest about 1"L. Dry surface, scattered abrasions and separations. Interior of drawers have been painted brown. Right door with modern magnetic latch. Original knobs.