From collection Furniture
Blanket chest
The oldest piece of furniture in Preservation Long Island’s collection, this blanket chest has a history of ownership in the Hedges family. Hailing from England by way of Lynn, Massachusetts, the Hedges were among the first Europeans to settle in East Hampton in the early 1650s, bringing with them ideas about how furniture should look and how their homes should be furnished. This chest was probably one of a small number of pieces that filled the Hedges’s seventeenth-century home. Its stylized and shallow-carved floral stems, arches, and lunettes are typical of both England and New England furniture from the period, and are directly related to a series of chests made in or associated with New Haven Colony. Most woodworkers who came to New England brought with them knowledge of regional English furniture styles and the technology necessary to recreate them. These craftsmen then trained others, leading to the development of local shop traditions; in this case, one that extended from Connecticut across the Long Island Sound.