Furniture on the Frontier

Cabinet Making in Pittsburgh to 1860

By Eric Miller

Getting to Pittsburgh

Walking / horseback

Early roads connect PhiladelphiaAnd Baltimore

Stagecoach Lines (1805)

Steamboats (1811)

Canal Boats (1830)

Railroad (1855)

1700

So How Did It Get Here?

A piano may have been rare, but this wasn’t the only piano in Pittsburgh in 1811 and may have even been made in Pittsburgh (but we know piano forte’s have made the trip).

Before 1805 means of travel and shipping to Pittsburgh from the east were very limited.

This made local manufacturing cost-effective.

Skilled cabinet makers could travel easier than furniture.

The rivers made travel west efficient, and exporting feasible.

So, who brought or made pianofortes? Ads for piano forte maker

Charles Rosenbaum began appearing in 1814.

A piano at the Heinz History Center was given by General Richard Butler to his daughter Mary in 1791—it was made in Philadelphia.

The piano forte made a debut early on, and at least by 1814 were being manufactured here. General Butler

Besides Gen. Butler, Who Else Might Have Had a Piano Forte?

General James O’Hara John Neville

Were They “Roughing It?”

General James O'Hara's first home (1783) in Pittsburgh was a log cabin near the Allegheny River…

O'Hara's bride astonished the people by the luxurious furnishings of her home…

Carpets on the floors of her home were called "coverlets" by the neighbors who hesitated to walk on them.

Country Estates & Towne Homes

Early on, the bulk of fine early estates were in the countryside.

John Neville had two “mansions” south of Pittsburgh.

One, Bower Hill was burned in 1764.

The other, Woodville exists to give us a glimpse of well-healed life on the frontier.

An inventory of losses after the burning of Bower Hill listed items including a tall case clock, a dining table with matching chairs, carpeting and wall paper.

Woodville had Furnishings from China, Belgium and London.

(shown: inside Woodville, 2006)

Country Estates & Towne Homes

(the furniture in Woodville today is not of the house)

Country Estates & Towne Homes

Both John and Presley Neville, his son, had town homes in Pittsburgh in 1795.

Tax records show John owning a second Pittsburgh house, grander than the first, in 1798

A 1902 article described this house as “the most handsome house west of the Alleghenies.”

But just how much of a piano

market could there have been?

Country Estates & Towne Homes

Population of Early Pittsburgh

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1790 1800 1816 1830 1860

Population

Cabinet Makers, 1815

1815, 66 Cabinet Makers producing $90,000 of product

Who brought what? Some wealthy

Pittsburgh residents imported furniture.

Most likely bought locally crafted furniture, some on par with imports.

Much of the furniture made here was exported to the west.

Some Early Furniture Made in Western, Pa

Tall Case Clock

circa 1801,

Thomas Hutchinson,

Carnegie Museum of Art

Features of early Furniture made in Western PA

Vine and Leaf Design

Known and Attributed Pieces of Early Western PA Furniture

Alexander Cook, 1795, Canonsburg, Pa, Tall Clock, listed in 1982 as being in a private collection in Washington County

John Parker, 1801, Pittsburgh, Pa, Tall Case Clock, Heinz History Center

Johnston and Davis, 1805, Pittsburgh, Pa Tall Case Clock, Carnegie Museum of Art

Samuel Davis 1810, Tall Case Clock, Heinz History Center

John Huey, 1808, Washington Pa- Slant front desk, Heinz History Center

Peter Hughes (attributed) 1805, Fayette County, Pa, Tall clock, listed in 1982 as being in a private collection in Lebanon County, Pa

Thomas Hutschinson, 1810, Washington, Pa, Tall Clock, Carnegie Museum of Art (shown)

John Huey, slant front desk Made for James Boyar,

farmer landowner, June 1808

Poplar and Walnut String Inlay Signed on two drawers

There Were OthersJoseph Barclay

Thomas Cannon Thomas Cowan

John CarrJohn Fearis John Ligget

James McCartyJohn M’Graw

John M’PhersonJames Pentland

Jesse WardJohn Young

Furnishing the West Imports didn’t supplant

locally crafted furniture despite transportation improvements.

In 1817 (during a recession) cabinetmakers were producing $40,000 worth of goods, three times 1803.

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1835 1846

East

West

Furniture traveling the PA Canal System

Henry Beares and Contemporaries

1819 Henry Bheares, Chair Maker, Second between Wood and Smithfield Streets at the foot of Market. Grateful for past favours, respectfully informs his friends and the public in general, that he has on hand a handsome assortment o fancy and Windsor chairs and settees, which he offers for sale on accommodating terms. Having determined to execute every article in his line in the best and most fashionable manner he flatters himself from that conduct and assiduous attention to business, to merit a share of public patronage. Orders from a distance can be filled with articles of workmanship equal, if not superior to any made here, and perhaps on more moderate terms. One or two apprentices wanted to the above business. Boys from the country will be preferred. Pittsburgh May 11, 1819.

Beares Sideboard at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

What were the influences?

Its hard to imagine Beares was not familiar with Anthony Quervelle and Philadelphia designs.Pittsburgh’s sideboards may be some ten years newer.

Benjamin Montgomery

William Alexander•Striking similarities

•In many ways identicalTo Beares Sideboard

•Both signed

Beares and Alexander Compared

How Can They Be So Similar? First, it’s clear both are of such quality they could be mistaken

for Philadelphia pieces. Both cabinetmakers could have been using the same pattern

book. Finally, they might have hired the same carver.

Beares and Alexander Compared

Jospeh Woodwell, Wood Carver

The Carver may have been Joseph Woodwell

Woodwell was born in New York City in 1807 and became proficient at woodcarving in New York as a young man.

He joined the Buffalo cabinetshop of B.I. Staats and moved to Pittsburgh in 1828 to enhance his artistic reputation.

Known works include a carved eagle in the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and fruit vases in hardwood at Old

Economy Village near Pittsburgh.

Jospeh Woodwell, Wood Carver

Woodwell also sold furniture in his hardware store.

Carving Compared

Let’s compare the carving on the Beares Sideboard to that of Anthony Quervelle.

Carving Compared

Beares Quervelle

Carving Compared

There are differences, but you can see how Pittsburgh furniture might be misattributed to Philadelphia.

Attributing a WardrobeThe Zuk Wardrobe now

in the Heinz History Center

may also be the work of Henry Beares...

Attributing a Wardrobe870 WARDROBEBefore built-in closets became standard household features, clothing and personal items were stored in wardrobes, chests of drawers and trunks. George Breed, a Pittsburgh dry goods merchant, owned this elegant neo-classical wardrobe, which was probably made in the 1830s. Its massive size, use of mahogany veneers and skillful carving indicate that it was an expensive piece of furniture and symbolized the prosperity of its owner. Several cabinetmakers were known to have been producing furniture of this quality at the time, including William Alexander, Benjamin Montgomery and Henry Beares. Similarities in the work of these cabinetmakers could be attributed to a skilled carver who did work for several cabinetmakers. The maker designed the wardrobe to be easily disassembled for moving by removing several pegs and screws. Gift of Emma Zug, 79.18

Attributing a WardrobeCompare the carving…

Zuk Wardrobe Beares Sideboard

Attributing a WardrobeOther details show less similarity…

Zuk Wardrobe Beares Sideboard

Attributing a WardrobeCould they both be Woodwell?

That possibility can’t be discounted…

However the closer similarities are found in the lesser carvings on both pieces.

Made in Pittsburgh

Could these be Pittsburgh sideboards?

Pittsburgh Cabinet Makers Book

Like New York and Philadelphia, Cabinetmakers in Pittsburgh has a book of prices.

Pittsburgh Cabinet Makers Book

Many of the designs in the book look like New York furniture.While it may have been difficult to import fine East-Coast cabinetry to

Pittsburgh, both information and skilled cabinetmakers had less problem getting in.

ConclusionsFurniture made in Pittsburgh before 1860 is

often thought of as lesser than counterparts from Philadelphia.

Transportation challenges, combined with economic growth, was the impetus for the growth of cabinetmaking in Pittsburgh.

There are known examples of well-executed cabinetry that was produced in Pittsburgh.

Thank You