American History

Through American Furniture

American Furniture at the Met

Material culture artifacts were “made at a particular time and place, in response to a specific need, to perform a socially meaningful function, expressing

values through design, ornament, symbol, and style, which were a part of a definite cultural tradition.”

-E. McClung Fleming “Early American Decorative Arts as Social Documents,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 45, Sep., 1958: 277.

What Can Furniture Tell Us About a Society?

• Trade: The origins of raw materials and finished products tell us about the trade networks of a particular society.

• Function: The use of particular pieces of furniture tell us about a society’s solutions to everyday problems.

• Standard of Living: The price of materials and degree of workmanship in furniture tells us about the relative wealth of members of a society.

• Everyday life: The purpose and design of decorative arts tells us about how people spent their time.

• Values: The iconography of decorative arts tells us about a society’s religious, political, and historical values.

(From: -E. McClung Fleming “Early American Decorative Arts as Social Documents,” The Mississippi

Valley Historical Review 45, Sep., 1958: 279.)

This chest was made by William Searle (1634-1667) and Thomas Dennis (1638-1706) of Ipswich, MA. The chest, is an example of the continuity in furniture making because it shares many details with British chests of the same period. Both British and Colonial chests were made by panel construction with oak. In addition, the scroll work and flower and leaf designs were popular design motifs in both areas. Dennis and Searle were from Devonshire, England and likely brought their traditions of furniture making and decoration with them to Massachusetts.

This tall chest from Philadelphia is an example of the adaptation of European styles to suit local tastes. This chest is likely made from mahogany imported from the West Indies. The quality of the carving indicates that it was carved by a highly-skilled craftsmen who was trained in London. The MET website states, “these makers took motifs from London pattern books and rearranged them to suit local tastes. Thus, the scroll pediment with finial bust and cornice moldings were taken directly from illustrations in Thomas Chippendale's famous Gentlemen and Cabinet Maker's Director (1762), the serpent-and-swan motif in the central bottom drawer from Thomas Johnson's New Book of Ornaments (1762).”

(from http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=1&viewmode=0&item=18%2E110%2E4)

Desks like this one, made between 1770 and 1790 by the finest cabinetmakers in Newport, the Townsends and the Goddards, were symbols of their owners’ business achievements and wealth. Constructed primarily of imported mahogany (with locally available chestnut and pine as secondary woods), the shape of this desk was taken from German designs. Its adornment a particularly American interpretation of the leafy scroll work of the Rococo style that was popular in Europe. The unique contributions of the Townsends and Goddards to furniture designs include:

• Blockfront styling with plain vertical sections that terminate in finely carved shells

• The “cupcake” finial (a flattened ball with a corkscrew extending from it)

• The bracketed foot with a small scroll

Chairs such as this one are part of the Federal style of American furniture-making. Federal style furniture was not a uniquely American innovation. Instead, it drew on European traditions that originated as early as the 1730s when the Enlightenment spurred interest in Greek and Roman cultures. At this time, classical motifs such as drapery, urns, and sheaths of wheat become popular as furniture adornments.

After the American Revolution, classically-inspired furniture became very popular. This was due to an influx cabinetmakers from England, Ireland, and Scotland who brought their current European tastes with them. The popularity of classical furniture in the new United States can also be attributed to the Republic’s attempt to connect itself to the traditions of Ancient Greece and Rome.

This particular chair is consistent with the work of Samuel McIntire, a Salem carver and architect. The chair was owned by the prominent Salem merchant Elias Hasket Derby. The chair’s detail is a testament to Derby’s wealth and the upholstered seat indicates an increased concern for comfort. The design merges both regional, local, and international tastes The main design is based on a published Hepplewhite pattern. The shield shaped back, however, is common for New England furniture and the central urn with festoons is particular to Salem. The carved grape designs on the legs and splat draw on Greco-Roman motifs and are associated with McIntire’s work.

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This sofa (1810-1820) was owned by Thomas Cornell Pearsall, a wealthy New York merchant and shipowner. Like the McIntire chair, this sofa is part of the American Federal style. The x-shaped leg supports are derived from curules, an ancient Greco-Roman furniture form that was described and published in the early 19th century. This particular sofa has been attributed to Duncan Phyfe, a Scottish cabinetmaker who emigrated to New York in 1794. The reeded legs of this sofa are classically-inspired ((think of columns) as are the swag and cornucopia carvings.

Crafted of imported mahogany, this sofa exemplifies the owner’s wealth and the increased attention to luxury that characterized the 19th century.

Bibliography• Butler, Joseph T. American Antique Furniture. New York: Roundtable

Press, 1985.• Fleming, E. McClung. “Early American Decorative Arts as Social

Documents.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 45, Sep., 1958.• Kirk, John T. American Furniture and the British Tradition to 1830. New

York: Knopf, 1982.• Website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=1&viewmode=0&item=10%2E125%2E685http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=1&viewmode=0&item=15%2E21%2E2http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=1&viewmode=0&item=18%2E110%2E4http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=1&viewmode=0&item=62%2E16http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=1&viewmode=0&item=60%2E4%2E1

Artifact Analysis WorksheetThis NARA Resource is useful for analyzing material culture resources.

• http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/artifact_analysis_worksheet.pdf

Seymour Story: a Former PEM Exhibit

See http://www.pem.org/luxury/furniture.html for video and audio descriptions of methods and styles