NEW YORK, NY.- The John Townsend Chippendale Block-and-Shell Document Cabinet realized $3,442,500 at Christie’s sale of Important American Furniture and Folk Art. A rare survival of colonial Newport’s merchant elite, this cabinet is signed by John Townsend, Newport, Rhode Island, 1755-1765, and was sold with the approval of the directors of the Chipstone Foundation to benefit the acquisitions funds. John Hays, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Americas, comments: “Christie’s was honored to have been entrusted by the directors of the Chipstone Foundation with the sale of the block-and-shell document cabinet signed by John Townsend, which achieved $3.4 million — a record price of for an American document cabinet. This remarkable object was signed twice by the renowned Colonial cabinet maker, John Townsend, and established the second