Historic Chippendale Chest Finds Permanent Home in Cazenovia

This Chippendale chest was constructed in the mid 1700s.

In 1799, Margaret Field Leonard and her husband, Reverend Joshua Leonard brought a Chippendale chest from Ellington, Connecticut to Cazenovia in a covered wagon. Crafted in New England (circa 1750-1780) of cherry wood, this four-drawer chest is made in the oxbow style which is a curved front with a concave section between two convex ones. Creating the oxbow shape required hand-cutting and smoothing drawer fronts from thick stock—a time consuming and expensive production. The chest has elegant ogee bracket feet and decorative maple inlaid escutcheons surrounding the keyholes of each drawer. The Chippendale style of furniture, named for craftsman and designer Thomas Chippendale, was made in England, the European continent, and the American Colonies. 

The chest was gifted by bequest of Margaret Leonard Hammond to the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation (CPF) in 1975. Then, the chest of drawers spent nearly a half-century in storage along with several other small furniture items, maps and art in CPF’s collection.

After several prior attempts to find it a new home, CPF decided to offer the chest at silent auction in the fall of 2023, hoping that it would find a Cazenovia-area residence where it would be enjoyed by its owner and their guests.

Portrait of Reverend Joshua Leonard

To help publicize the silent auction, CPF featured Reverend Joshua Leonard as one the spirits in its popular Walk Among the Sprits event in October 2023. The Chippendale chest was put on display in Cazenovia Public Library for several weeks, then moved to the house of CPF board member Baird Hansen, whose house is coincidentally the former First Presbyterian Church manse where Joshua Leonard—and the chest—once resided!

The winning bidder acquired the piece with the intent of gifting it to the First Presbyterian Church. On Sunday, July 16, 2024 at 1 p.m., as part of the Presbyterian Church’s 225th birthday celebration, the Chippendale chest will be placed in the church entrance beneath the portrait of the first Pastor, and the former owner of the chest, Joshua Leonard. All are welcome to attend the celebration.

CPF is using the proceeds from the sale of the Chippendale chest to support ongoing preservation, conservation, and land stewardship work. We are so pleased that it has found a permanent home here in Cazenovia where it can be viewed and enjoyed by visitors to the First Presbyterian Church of Cazenovia.