Old Chest Restored to Quincy House

141 Cambridge Street Boston, Mass. 02114-2702 Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Boston, Massachusetts Permit No. 58621

by NANCY CARLISLE Senior Curator of Collections

When this chest of drawers first went on the antiques market in the 1970s, it belonged to Quincy Howe. His grandfather, Josiah P. Quincy (18291910), owned Quincy House in Quincy, Massachusetts, when the piece was sold in the 1890s. That provenance alone would be enough to suggest that the chest was among the original furnishings of the house, but an inscription inside one of the drawers clinches it. “This bureau was the property of Mrs. Abigail Quincy & was it is supposed given to her at the time of her marriage in 1769. . . . E. S. Quincy, Sep. 1869.”

Eliza Susan Quincy (1798-1884), whose greatgrandfather built Quincy House, was a tireless researcher and an accomplished writer. Proud of her family's accomplishments, she documented her family’s important role in the region as well as her home and its contents. This chest is one of several at Quincy House that William Phillips probably purchased for his daughter Abigail when she married Josiah Quincy Jr. in 1769. It would have been very stylish at the time and a particularly suitable wedding gift.

Built in 1770 for Colonel Josiah Quincy (17091784), Quincy House remained in the family for five generations until 1895 when the building and surrounding acres were sold for development. The furnishings were divided among family members; some were sold, and others remained with the family. More than forty years later, in 1937, members of the Quincy family purchased the house and donated it to Historic New England for use as a museum. Some of the original furnishings were returned to the house at that time. More have come back in the ensuing years, but some have made their way into other museum collections (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and Winterthur Museum in Winterthur, Delaware) and others have gone on the market. Whenever possible, Historic New England tries to acquire original pieces and return them to the house. This chest, purchased last summer with funding from a donor, is one of a number of original furnishings that have been brought back to Quincy House in recent years.

Between 2012 and 2016, Historic New England transformed Quincy House using Eliza Susan’s documentation as the cornerstone. Plan a visit this summer when it will be open for the first time since the pandemic-related closure.