Antique American Furniture and Silver
Antique American Furniture and Silver
Design Reform (1870-1915)
Design Reform was a counter to the unbridled ornamentation of the other styles that were fashionable at the time. Design Reform followed two parallel courses. One direction was inspired by Japanese art and the other by the Arts and Craft Movement which modernised Gothic. The magic word of Design reform was simplicity.
The Arts and Crafts Movement also wished to bring back hand made crafts and rejected machine production. Wooden dowels, pegs, and screws are widely used in making these pieces which helps to make them difficult to restore.
Shaker Style
A great deal was produced in this style between 1820 and 1870. Furniture is still being made in Shaker style. Although this style clearly left its mark on American furniture making many respected books on antiques such as Sotheby’s Guide to American Furniture barely mention the Shakers, if at all. The Shaker Quakers are a strict religious sect that arrived in the New World under the leadership of Ann Lee in 1774. They started to make furniture for their own use in the late eighteenth century in the eighteen settlements that they had established since their arrival.
These were in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, and Kentucky. These were not experienced woodworkers. Before they could build their houses, barns, tools, and furniture, they first had to fell trees, learn the properties of the different types of timber, and dam streams in order to produce water power to drive their sawmills.
They quickly discovered that pine leant itself readily for use in making fitted furniture. For other types of furniture hardwoods were needed such as maple. Some Shakers also used timber from fruit trees such as cherry, pear, and apple wood Because of its wonderful and enduring sheen cherry was an extremely good choice for table leaves.
There are two types of Shaker furniture. The first type is fitted furniture that belongs in the house into which it was built and the second type is free-standing. The free-standing furniture can be further subdivided into church and home furniture. When people speak of Shaker furniture these days they usually mean tables, beds, benches, and above all chairs.
The Shaker Style reflects the beliefs of the designers. They believed that a frugal
life style would help them to attain God’s kingdom. Excessive ornamentation and comfort were therefore banished. Shaker furniture characteristically has strongly geometric lines with plain surfaces and functionality. Some people claim that the Shakers copied the style from the Pilgrims and are not themselves creative. This is certainly not true. Their talent lies in simplifying and refining. By removing all artifice and adornment the Shakers were able to design furniture that reflected the essential form and proportions.
The result is very commendable. Although individual achievements were subordinated to the interests of the group as a whole the germs of creativity were not stifled. The names of the extremely capable Shaker furniture makers were known far and wide. People like James Farnum, Gilbert Avery, John Lockwood, George Wickersham, Benjamin Youngs,
Amerikaanse Turner tall chair Mid 18th century American slat back chair.
Thomas Fisher, and Robert Wagon were so imbued with the spirit of simplicity that they made very refined but unpretentious furniture.
Renowned furniture makers
The first furniture maker arrived in America on the Pilgrim ship The Mayflower. He shipped on board as ship’s carpenter and cooper. He was one of the signatories to the agreement that the Pilgrims made before their landing on Plymouth Rock and was the first person to step ashore.
He was immortalised by the famous Longfellow poem that tells of his proposal of marriage on behalf of his friend Miles Standish to Priscilla Mullens. This carpenter’s name is John Alden. Once ashore he was appointed magistrate and fulfilled this function for fifty years. John Alden combined his judicial role with his
trade. Together with Kenlem Winslow, who also made coffins, he made the essentials for furnishing the homes. About twenty pieces of furniture attributed by experts to Alden and Winslow still exist.
Much of the furniture from the early colonial period was lost in the many fires that occurred through spontaneous combustion of hayricks and the use of naked flames in candles, torches, and open hearths. Ship’s furniture has survived better and two dozen upholstered and richly decorated chairs were found on the ship of the infamous pirate Captain William Kidd that he has robbed from well appointed vessels. Pirate ships were a valuable place to search for a time for experts in American antiques. Many superb pieces of furniture were recaptured by these experts.
With the passage of time the country became richer and the houses grew larger. This led to an increased demand for furniture. Furniture makers no longer needed to earn their living with additional lines of work and were able to concentrate on their trade. Some of them made pieces for people further afield, outside their own local community but others had more than enough local work and left exports to others. John Cogswell, who worked in Boston around 1798, was one of these. He proudly labelled his furniture ‘Made by John Cogswell in Middle Street, Boston’. Cogswell had good reason to be proud. he made the finest mahogany bombe (convex curving) furniture ever produced in America. Bending mahogany to a precise shape is not an easy process. The first coming together of furniture makers occurred in the wealthy town of Newport, Rhode Island. The rich pirateers and slave traders who lived there were prepared to pay good money for fine furniture made by the families Goddard and Townsend. These two families were related to each other through
marriage, business, and religion (they were Quakers). Thirteen Townsends and seven Goddards made superb furniture in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century in styles that were popular at the time. They introduced the block front and shell motifs.
At the same time Philadelphia was a busy trading centre. There were more than 100 furniture makers in the city in 1722. They made Chippendale style furniture of unparalleled craftsmanship and originality.
Despite the praise that many heaped on them, their lives were not always straightforward or easy. One of the leading furniture makers, Thomas Affleck, was banished to Virginia for seven months in 1797, because he was a Tory. Others were also kept from their work for long periods because of political or economic problems. While craftsmen in Philadelphia such as Jonathan Gostelowe, John Folwell, Thomas Tuft, James Gillingham, and William Savary specialised in well-made furniture decorated with very detailed carving, others concentrated on making items for poorer homes. These makers advertised in the newspapers, offered low prices, short-term credit, and even took furniture in part-exchange. They produced a lot of cane furniture and Windsor chairs that are inexpensive to make.
Many tradesmen lay down their tools and took up a rifle when the American War of Independence broke out. Others made tent poles, camp beds, and chairs for the army. Some furniture makers climbed to the heights in the American army. John Dunlap became a major, Stephen Badlam was an artillery captain and later a general in the Massachusetts’ militia. Marius Willet, a renowned chair maker of New York, led the Sons of Liberty when they attacked a British supply column. Two years later he played an important role in the defeat of the British under General Van Burgoyne at Saratoga. The War of
Independence made a major dent in the economic situation. Many furniture makers had great difficulty to get their businesses running again.
The War of Independence led to large numbers of European immigrants coming to America. These included the Fife family who scraped together the money in Scotland by hard work for their passage to America. They went to live in Albany, New York state and their son Duncan was apprenticed to a furniture maker. He soon proved to have a talent for the trade.
After his apprenticeship he opened his own workshop and became the most famous American furniture maker of the early nineteenth century. He is also the own American maker of whom there are pieces still in existence in each of the
A 19th century American ladderback rocking chair.
styles then existing. In order to attract more clients Duncan Fife moved to New York city and in 1794 found it necessary to change his name. In order to attract richer clients he now spelled his name as Phyfe.
He got married and could not find enough work to keep his new wife. Phyfe’s financial worries ended though when he was commissioned to make furniture for the daughter of the wealthy merchant John Jacob Astor. The trading post of this wealthy merchant had been the cause of a border dispute with Britain that resulted in the United States successfully claiming Oregon. When the furniture was delivered, the Astors were so delighted that they recommended Phyfe to all their friends. Phyfe quickly discovered that he made ‘elite furniture for elite people’.
He employed a number of craftsmen and companions. His workshop was too small for the employees and he moved to spacious and well lit premises. Now that he could afford it Phyfe bought pattern books and developed the designs in consultation with his clients. Because the French had supported the Americans in their struggle against the British, increasingly French styles came into vogue. The Directoire style in particular was liked by Americans.
Phyfe combined this with English styles, resulting in an individual style that can be recognised by the bronze lion claw feet. The front feet bend forwards and the rear ones bend backwards. Phyfe liked rounded forms. His chair arms were scrolled, sometimes with an urn-like form. His favourite wood was mahogany with a preference for reddish West Indian timber.
Phyfe was also a businessman through and through. When the Empire style came into vogue during the Napoleonic era, he responded immediately. His work though was more precisely executed than
European pieces. Although he was lionised by New York’s elite he took little part in the city’s social life and was not given to courting publicity. His sons followed in their father’s footsteps. In 1840 the style of furniture was not entirely to the Phyfe’s liking but they felt forced to make this ‘butcher’s furniture’ in order to survive. In 1847 Phyfe had had enough and stopped work. he still made a few pieces for family and friends while he managed his properties that had become worth $100,000. This highly respected and much copied furniture maker died in his house in Fulton Street, New York in 1854.
Hugo and John Finlay of Baltimore developed their own styles but made furniture to the designs of Benjamin Henry Lathrobe. Lathrobe was commissioned by President James Madison to rebuild the official home of the President after this had been put to the torch by the British in the war of 1812. Lathrobe created the name ‘The White House’ by covering much of the fire damage with white paint.
The Finlays made painted furniture which was very popular in New York city around 1795. This furniture was designed for use in the living rooms and music rooms of the wealthy citizens. The furniture was made by craftsmen. By 1825 though this furniture was to be found everywhere. Mass production had made them a great deal cheaper.
Lambert Hitchcock, born in Cheshire, Connecticut in 1795 was a major figure in the development of mass production. He set up a small factory in 1818 in Barkhamstead, Connecticut, where he made parts for chairs that were assembled by the people who bought them. There soon proved to be a major interest in his production. Hitchcock shipped his products through the country. In 1825 he stopped making parts and started to make complete, fine chairs. These chairs, that were painted with golden or silver flowers or fruit, were actually produced by a number of different people. In contrast with most other makers of his time though Hitchcock put a label on his furniture saying ‘L. Hitchcock, Hitchcocksville, Connecticut, Warranted.’ People therefore assumed that Hitchcock had designed the chairs himself and they therefore unjustly became known as Hitchcock chairs. Hitchcock was producing 15,000 chairs per year in 1828 but the competition was so fierce that he was bankrupt in 1829.
The receivers employed Hitchcock to manage the business. Within three years he had the business back on its feet and he got it back. Hitchcock entered into partnership with Arba Alford Jr. in 1830 and married his sister. Four years later he was elected to the state assembly but he continued to run his business. The partnership between Hitchcock and Alford terminated in 1843 when Hitchcock set up a new factory in Unionville, Connecticut. This attempt to start a new venture failed and Hitchcock died in Unionville in 1852.
Meanwhile the Alfords had closed the factory and sold the building. This was used for several purposes for a while and remained empty for a period before eventually being re-opened as a chair works to make chairs by the early nineteenth century methods. These chairs are labelled ‘L. Hitchcock, Hitchcocksville, Connecticut, Warranted.’
Another furniture maker who needs to be named is John Henry Belter who originated from Germany. He established a major business in New York city together with his brothers-in-law. He brought over wood carvers from the Black Forest to staff his factory. Belter was also a first class wood carver who provided all his pieces with extremely complex patterns.
American Hitchcock chair with gold inlay, circa 1825.
Belter often gilded his carving so that it had the appearance of machined metal. He never repeated a design, not even when he made a set of ‘matching’ chairs. Each chair had a small variation. Belter’s technique has never been matched. Although most of his designs are of luxurious appearance they were also very practical and comfortable. When he died in 1863 it transpired out that his debts were so high that there was little left for his heirs. He remains though one of America’s finest makers of furniture.
After the Civil War manufacturers built factories where there was water available to drive the machinery but there were some people who wanted nothing to do with machine made furniture. Even Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin called on women to refuse to buy this machine made furniture. The designs of such furniture were not based on any given style. The manufacturers were not ashamed to mix all the style together. The ‘furniture style’ of 1870-1890 is merely a combination of all manner of styles from Grecian to Victorian.
At the end of the nineteenth century a new style eventually emerged. Art Nouveau, with its simplistic decoration that often used natural subjects fitted American tastes very well. With a few years there were a number of Americans such as David Walcott Randall, Thomas Hadley, George Pike, and Paul Frankl who created Art Nouveau furniture that was not inferior to the European examples.