George Robert Lawton
(b. Newport, Rhode Island, 1813–1885)
Chest of Drawers, 1870
Painted pine and maple
New Hope, Wisconsin
Lent by a private collection
Among the fanciful birds, animals and flowers that cover this elaborately painted chest of drawers, George Robert Lawton memorialized himself, his family and his Wisconsin home. The inscription “M R C Lawton” in the second circle of the first drawer most likely stands for Matilda R. C. Lawton, his granddaughter and the probable recipient of the chest. A self-portrait of Lawton on horseback appears on the fourth drawer, labeled “Mr. Artist.” Born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1813, Lawton came to Wisconsin in 1856 and was one of the founders of the town of New Hope, Portage County. Twenty years later he returned to Rhode Island where this chest and other works of painted furniture descended in his family.