Newport furniture and Philadelphia furniture were always considered the best of Colonial furniture that was produced in the English tradition. While our highboy is clearly a Newport piece in the Townsend Goddard tradition of cabinetmaking with its fabulous shell, there was also a meaningful interchange in the families of the wealthy able to acquire these pieces.
This is illustrated in our highboy which descended through interlocking families in both Philadelphia and Newport, and adjacent Providence, Rhode Island. John Olney, who consigned this piece to Sotheby’s, was a descendent of Thomas Olney, one of the original proprietors of Providence, who immigrated from St. Albans, England, to Salem sometime before 1630, accompanied by Roger Williams. Olney St. in Providence is a major street. The Olneys are also related to the wealthy Philadelphia Powell clan, one of whom was mayor of Philadelphia in 1763. Further, the wealthy merchant John Brown’s son-in-law John Francis was a Powell on his mother’s side.
These families were very wealthy with their investments in the sugar plantations of Jamaica as well as other enterprises, according to Olney. These families also spent summers in Newport and built one of the first mansions on Bellevue Avenue. John Olney provided me a summary of a genealogical history for my file which is recorded in the Museum of the City of New York. Why New York? I should have queried, but it seems these Colonial clans of wealthy merchants seem to have moved around and there’s probably more to the story. This extensive travel pattern is similar to the wealthy Judah Touro family that was involved also in the sugar trade in the Caribbean. They also had a strong presence in Newport, Rhode Island, and made many civic community improvements, one of which was the Touro Synagogue, the oldest in the country and on the National Register of Historic Places. What is surprising is that Judah Touro also had a great presence in New Orleans and built a hospital there, the Touro Infirmary.
Putting provenance aside, which in the case of Colonial furniture is wonderful to have, a good source of information about these Newport highboys comes from a publication by Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans in New England Furniture at Winterthur. They were able to account for approximately 36 highboys, and they break them down in terms of distinctive differences in the carved shell, skirt, height, etc. Brock Jobe, a senior curator there at the time, pointed out to me that ours comes closest to theirs with a similar shell. The shell is of the earlier style, which is closed within a circular arc and without the later fillets at the bottom. The main difference is in the claw-and-ball feet of these highboys. Theirs has open talons, whereas ours does not open and is more apple-shaped. The open talon is a celebrated feature of John Goddard’s skill. Although many think it is an original feature, I have an English example card table with open talons.
The Winterthur example offers a detailed condition report of their highboy, and it’s quite extensive, i.e., cracks in the legs repaired, knee brackets missing and replaced, section of the waist molding missing, through cracks on the sides, etc. Consequently, I was able to accept that these early rare pieces were used, and any piece that is close to 300 years old probably has losses that, like on Venus de Milo, is something we can live with and are better for having it. On ours, there are chips to some of the drawer fronts (which now have been restored), and the original brasses missing are replaced now with appropriate period replacements. Also, paint on the inside of the drawers, (which was often missing) has been repainted. The finial is original and is a double cupcake, which is rare but not unknown. Mostly, I was always attracted to the fabulous striped mahogany. It has a beautiful red color that seems to radiate, and I’m sure was first-growth mahogany, which has long been stripped off Caribbean coastlines and which took years to grow and to survive. This wood is very dense.
This piece, prior to its coming to auction over 20 years ago, was featured in a television series called Find! The hunters were none other than the twin Keno brothers. One worked for Sotheby’s and the other was a dealer. They found John Olney, Ph.D., a retired philosophy professor, in his Malibu, California, home. He graciously provided me with a lengthy family history. He was the end of a long illustrious family, some of which helped pay Daniel Webster’s legal bills!
Provenance: Descended through the John Olney family
Referenced: Yale University Rhode Island Furniture Archive #RIF197
John Olney is a descendant of not only the Olney family in Providence, but also the Powel family in Philadelphia. Powel’s brother was mayor of Philadelphia, 1763. Leslie Keno tracked this piece out in California in his series “Find!” Of distinction is the very beautiful figured Cuban mahogany and small yet firm stance. The double cupcake finial is original and the large boxy claw and ball feet relate to the John Brown lolling chair sold at Christie’s Jan. ’02, lot 351.
Height: 84 in. Width: 38 in
Revised Aug 13, 2025, 5:19 PM