American Carved Maple Possum Belly Kitchen Cabinet

Lot description

American carved maple possum belly cabinet, early 20th c., having scrolled top crest, top section with four drawers, one fall front and two cabinet doors, above work surface with small shelf, over two drawers and two large underside drawers, rising on turned supports, retaining maker's mark in verso "Zier Phillips F. Co. (Zier-Phillips Furniture Company) Austin, Texas," lacking two pull-out slides above drawers, approx 62.75"h, 41"w, 27 5/8"d Provenance: From the estate of Connie Todd (Constance Clare Todd, Austin, Texas, 1941-2024). For many years, Connie Todd was the personal assistant to prominent Austin-based book publisher, photographer, and author Bill Wittliff (William Dale Wittliff, American, active in Austin, Texas, 1940-2019). Bill Wittliff wrote celebrated screenplays such as "Lonesome Dove" (1982), "Legends of the Fall" (1994), and "Barbarosa" (2000), and founded the regionally-oriented publishing company, Encino Press, with his wife Sally in 1963. Connie Todd later served as the founding director of the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University from 1997-2010, transforming it into an internationally-acclaimed collection through noteworthy acquisitions such as the Cormac McCarthy archive. After retiring from Texas State, Connie Todd spent time traveling the world with friends and family.