NEW YORK — A 17th-century valuables cabinet that has been under the Swift River Valley Historical Society’s care for roughly 60 years is going up for auction on Friday at Sotheby’s, where it is expected to fetch $600,000 to $800,000.
The piece has an extensive provenance stemming from its 1677 creation in Salem, most recently being donated to the historical society by Annie Frances Ballard, a descendant of one of the cabinet’s original owners. It was kept in a temperature-controlled room until the recent Sotheby’s appraisal convinced society officials they could not afford to properly secure or insure it.
“It’s such a wonderful piece,” Swift River Valley Historical Society President Judith McIntosh said, adding that board members have mixed emotions about letting the cabinet go. “There’s incredible excitement that we’re finally able to, hopefully, bring the museum into the 21st century.”
She explained that the money will be put toward community outreach, making the historical society building accessible for people with disabilities, and making the facility more user-friendly for archivists and historians.
The auction is slated to start at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23. It can be watched online at tinyurl.com/SothebysCabinet, though anyone wanting to bid must register for a Sotheby’s account. The cabinet has a $600,000 reserve, meaning it won’t be allowed to sell for any less than that.
McIntosh mentioned the society learned of the piece’s value after reaching out to Sotheby’s. Board members included a photograph of the cabinet with images of some stained glass they were interested in auctioning. She said they got a call the next day from Erik Gronning, senior advisor in Sotheby’s Americana Department.
Gronning said he visited the historical society in New Salem as soon as he could and brought the cabinet with him to New York City.
“When I first saw the photograph, I didn’t believe it was what it turned out to be,” he said.
Gronning mentioned it is exceptionally rare for 17th-century cabinets to have keys and such detailed provenances.
“It’s kind of amazing,” he said. “Many pieces have no names associated with them.”
Gronning said the cabinet, which likely served as a tiny desk, is one of the most remarkable pieces he has seen in his 22 years at Sotheby’s.
“It is this unique opportunity that I will cherish forever,” he said.
McIntosh mentioned board members are at peace with letting go of the cabinet because although it resided in the North Quabbin region for many years and was produced in Salem, the Swift River Valley Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the artifacts, stories and records of Prescott, Dana, Greenwich and Enfield, the four Massachusetts towns that were disincorporated and abandoned to develop the Quabbin Reservoir.
Sotheby’s produced a video for its website (tinyurl.com/CabinetVideo1) in which Susan Buck, a conservator and paint analyst recruited by Gronning, explains how the cabinet still carries its original finishes, hardware, key, and even layers of dirt and soot. It also has a 19th-century letter penned by David Ballard, one of its past owners.
“It’s truly jaw-dropping,” Buck said in the video. “And I think anybody who works in this field realizes what a rarity it is.”
According to the Sotheby’s website, the cabinet is one of five known examples attributed to the Symonds shop in Salem, and the only one not held in a large public institution.
The cabinet’s door is emblazoned with two sevens (for 1677), and the initials — separated by a heart — are for Symon and Rebeckah Horne, an Andover couple who had the object crafted to commemorate the birth of their first son. According to Sotheby’s, the piece stands 17¼ inches high by 17 inches wide by 9½ inches deep.
According to the provenance provided by Sotheby’s, Symon Horne died around Dec. 14, 1687, and Rebeckah remained a widow until she married Joseph Ballard on Nov. 15, 1692. Rebeckah died on Feb. 11, 1740, and the cabinet passed to her son, Capt. Jeremiah Ballard Sr. Jeremiah married Mary Dane on Dec. 29, 1721, and they had six children: Mary, Phebe, Jeremiah Jr., Daniel, Joshua and Joseph. Daniel, who fought in the American Revolution, was the cabinet’s next owner, and eventually lived in Wendell.
Josiah Ballard, one of his 10 children, also actively served in the fight for independence and became the cabinet’s keeper upon his father’s death in 1808. Both Josiah and Daniel are buried in Wendell’s Center Cemetery.
The cabinet’s whereabouts are unknown for the 40 years after the 1856 death of Josiah’s wife, Frances Jane Zuill, who is buried in Wendell’s South Cemetery. According to Ballard family accounts, the cabinet passed from the family’s hands but was eventually descended to Annie Frances Ballard. She reportedly treasured the family heirloom and, in the 1940s, took several photographs of it on the porch of her home in Orange. She died in 1974 and was the final owner of the cabinet before donating it to the Swift River Valley Historical Society on behalf of all the descendants of Capt. Ballard.