(1929-2018)
Primarily known as a miniature basket-maker, Alfred ‘Al’ Chandronnait also created furniture, decorative accessories and boxes. These were often then painted by other artists, frequently in a charming primitive American folk art style. Al was born in Northfield, New Hampshire and spent much of his life in Hudson in the same state with Simone, his wife of 67 years, and their family. His professional life was in technical illustration, but miniature-making was only one of a number of passionately-pursued hobbies, also including kayaking, tennis, metal-detecting, coin-collecting and gold-panning. Clearly not the kind of man who was ever bored! The amount of skill and care that he put into his work means that his miniatures are now highly sought-after and we’re extremely pleased to have a couple in our collection.
Here are the works by Al in the Quartermaine Hall collection so far:
Large Handpainted Box
A Shaker-style folk art box, made by Al Chandronnait and probably painted by Bearly Big Enough (2021.116)
Small Handpainted Box
A Shaker-style box made by Al Chandronnait and painted by Bearly Big Enough (2021.115)
Quartermaine Hall 