Virginia Sectional Furniture: 1800 to 1860
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Virginia Sectional Furniture: 1800 to 1860 Seating Designs for a House Divided By Hal Stuart Published by Written Words Publishing LLC Two three section, expandable, sectional sofas, made by Green & Brother, Alexandria, VA, ca. 1837. The sectionals are on display at the Old Supreme Court Chamber, United States Capitol Building, Washington, DC. The photographic digital image was taken in 2014. Cover Art: Rendering of sectional sofas based on 2014 digital photograph of the Old Supreme Court Chamber, United States Capitol Building, Washington, DC. Historyland Properties P.O. Box 1386 Bowling Green, VA 22427 © 2016 Hal Stuart. All rights reserved. Revised Edition No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Published by: Written Words Publishing LLC 7/08/2019 ISBN: 978-1-7332357-0-9 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-7332357-1-6 (e) Library of Congress Control Number: 2015920093 Print information available on the last page. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book could have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are predominately those of the author, except were specifically cited. The materials and content accessible from this text are the proprietary information of Hal Stuart, or the parties that provided the content to Hal Stuart. The author retains all rights, title, and interest in the content of the text. Accordingly, the content may not be copied, distributed, republished, uploaded, posted, or transmitted in any way without the prior written consent of Hal Stuart, except it may be possible to print out a copy of the content solely for your personal use. In doing so, you may not remove or alter, or cause to be removed or altered, any copyright, trademark, trade name, service mark, or any other proprietary notice or legend appearing in any of the content of the text. Modification or use of the content, except as expressly provided in this copyright, violates Hal Stuart’s intellectual property rights. Neither title nor intellectual property rights are transferred to you by access to this text. For further information address the author: [email protected]. Title: Virginia Sectional Furniture: 1800 to 1860. 1. Anglo-American Military Campaign Furniture. 2. American Federalist Period. 3. Neo-classical Period. 4. Antebellum Virginia. 5. Green & Brothers Steam Furniture Works. 6. Alexandria, Virginia. 7. Thomas Day. 8. Presidents-United States. 9. Political Parties-United States. 10. Supreme Court-United States. 11. American Civil War. 12. Reconstruction. 13. High Modern and Post-Modern Eras. 14. Sectional Furniture. 15. Upholstered Seating. 16. Child Labor. 17. Slave Labor. Cover and Interior Designs by Hal Stuart The Rhetoric of Virginia Sectionalism “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” Future (Third) President Thomas Jefferson, letter to another future president, James Madison, Paris, January 1787. “Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.” First President George Washington, from “The Address of General Washington to the People of The United States on His Declining of the Presidency of the United States,” September 1796. “The fact, that to the north, negro slavery has everywhere disappeared, whilst to the south, it has maintained its ground triumphantly against free labor, is of itself conclusive of the superior productiveness of slave labor in southern latitudes.” Dew, Thomas R. Review of the Debate [on the abolition of slavery] in Virginia legislature of 1831 and 1832. Richmond, VA: T. W. White, 1832. “The bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me, but I will kill it first!” Seventh President Andrew Jackson, to future president, Martin Van Buren, July 1832. “The alarm bell, as Mr. Jefferson expressed it, has sounded, and the sections stood in array facing each other.” Tenth President John Tyler, from a lecture titled, “The Prominent Characters and Incidents of our History from 1812 to 1836,” Baltimore, MD, March 1855. “What will justify the North in efforts to involve both sections of our country in civil war and disunion, because slavery exists in one section of it?” Reverend Thornton Stringfellow, Scriptural and Statistical Views in Favor of Slavery (Richmond, VA: J. W. Randolph, 1856): page 147. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” United States Senate Candidate Abraham Lincoln, Address to the Republican State Convention, Springfield, IL, June 1858. “Oh, I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray! In Dixie Land I’ll take my stand To live and die in Dixie, Away, away, away down south in Dixie” Dixie (Chorus), Daniel Decatur Emmett, Bryant’s Minstrels, 1859. “The proclamation of President Lincoln was read and torn to ribbons. His reply to the Virginia Commissioners was also freely canvassed and its interpretations, this time, could not be mistaken, for war breathes in every line.” Alexandria Gazette, reporting on the secessionist work of James Green, Culpeper County, VA, April 20, 1861. “We have all agreed that the seceded states are out of their proper relation with the Union; and that the sole object of the government…in regard to those states is to again get them into that proper practical alignment…Let us join in doing the acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between the States and the Union.” Sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln, final speech, Washington, DC, April 1865. “TO BUILD UP THE SOUTH, BUILD UP AND ENCOURAGE HER MANUFACTORIES” Green & Brother, advertising slogan, company price list, August 1871. 3 The Father of Sectional Furniture Design: James Green (1801-1880) James Green, album photograph, Alexandria, VA., ca. 1870. The photographic digital image was provided courtesy of the Alexandria Public Library, Alexandria, VA. Virginia three section sectional sofas, Green & Brother, Alexandria, VA, ca. 1836-1837, mahogany veneer over black walnut with brass casters. The black and white photograph is courtesy of the Curator of the United States Senate. 4 Like Those You Come Across in Old Virginia Country Houses… Shirley (Plantation), James River, Virginia, ca. 1900, black and white, glass negative, William Henry Jackson. Shirley Plantation was one such old Virginia house with Virginia sectional seating as chronicled by Harper’s Weekly in 1894. “A bright fire burns in the grate, and old-fashioned mahogany chairs are drawn up cozily around it— chairs like those you come across in old Virginia country houses, made in sets of three, with tufted horse hair cushions in the seats. Everyone is familiar with the style. One chair of each set has a straight back and no arms, and the two have one arm a piece, made stiff and straight like the back 1 and joining it at right angles, so that the three when put together form a sofa.” 1 “The United States Supreme Court,” Harper’s Weekly, February 24, 1894: 175. 5 Table of Contents List of Illustrations, Paintings and Photographs .......................................................................... 7 Prologue ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 1: What the Modernist Didn’t Know ............................................................................ 26 Chapter 2: Virginia Sectional Furniture: Under Us and Around Us ......................................... 34 Chapter 3: Military Campaign and Sectional Furniture: A Practical Link .............................. 45 Chapter 4: Virginia Shop-Made Sectional Furniture ................................................................. 59 Chapter 5: Virginia Factory-Made Sectional Furniture ............................................................ 96 Chapter 6: Sectional Furniture for a House Divided ................................................................ 122 Chapter 7: And Tyler Too ......................................................................................................... 150 Chapter 8: Corner Chairs, Pairs of Chairs, Settees or Sectionals? .......................................... 163 Chapter 9: The Effects of the Civil War on Virginia Sectional Furniture ............................... 176 Epilogue ...................................................................................................................................... 189 Appendix A: Additional Photographs and Illustrations ........................................................... 195 Appendix B: Quick References and Identification of Virginia Sectionals ............................... 204 Appendix C: Brick Dust and Buttermilk Paint Experiment .................................................... 226 Appendix D: Useful Internet Website Links ............................................................................. 232 Historic Timeline ........................................................................................................................ 235 Selected Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 239 About the Author ......................................................................................................................