Xerox University Microfilms 3C0 North Z Eeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106

INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 3C0 North Z eeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MASTERS THESIS M-7565 McINTYRE, William John CHAIRS AND CHAIRMAKING IN UPPER CANADA. University of Delaware (Winterthur Program), M.A., 1975 History, modern Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor. Michigan 4S106 © 1975 WILLIAM JOHN McINTYRE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chairs and Chairmaking in Upper Canada by W. John McIntyre A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Early American Culture. June, 1975 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAIRS AND CHAIRMAKING IN UPPER CANADA BY W. John McIntyre Approved "ssor in charge of thesiiProfessor thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved VU4M €.* Coord/lator of the Winterthur Program Approved 2d ~ - ~ Dean of the College of Graduate Studies Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Preface Scholarly interest in American decorative arts is a relative newcomer to the academic scene. Beginning late in the nineteenth century, the United States began to lead the way to a better understanding of the arts and crafts of the New World. In Canada, research in this field has been in progress for an even shorter period of time and is in large part the by-product of an emerging sense of Canadian nationalism which itself is a mere decade or two old. This study of chairs and chairmaking in Upper Canada was under taken in order to add to our knowledge of the decorative a rts of North America. As will be apparent in the chapters which follow, the political boundary between Upper Canada and the United States was not an impregnable barrier separating two schools or traditions of craftsmanship. The people of both sides of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes shared a common cultural heritage. They moved back and forth across the border and they traded with one another. Only by considering the economic, cultural and social development of both these areas does the picture of Upper Canadian chairs and chairmaking begin to come clear. The groundwork for this study was laid, in large part, by Jeanne Minhinnickss At Home in Upper Canada (Toronto and Vancouver: Clarke Irwin, 1970), and by Philip Shackleton’s The Furniture of Old Ontario (Toronto: The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1973). As with a ll good f i r s t i i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iv generation research, these books raised more questions than they answered and now inspire others to explore in detail specific aspects of the Upper Canadian craft tradition. In preparing this study, a wide variety of primary sources, including newspapers, directories, assessment records, customs records, correspondence and account books has been used. These m aterials date from the 1790fs to the 1870's. Since large numbers of documents relating to individual c ra fts men, periods or areas have yet to be found, it has been possible only to sketch in outline the activities of Upper Canadian chairmakers between these two dates. Emphasis has been placed on discovering th e ir identity, the types of chairs they produced, where and how they worked, the competition they faced and the beginnings of factory production. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments Many people have contributed to the preparation of this thesis. F irst among them i 3 my adviser, Dr. Kenneth L. Ames of the Henry Francis duPont Winterthur Museum. His good humor and sound advice are much appreciated. Special thanks go to Donald Blake Webster, Curator, Canadians Department, Royal Ontario Museum, for suggesting the topic of this study and for his p ractical assistance in providing film , darkroom work and funds for travel. Others helped too and responded willingly to cries for help at various stages along the way. Listed alphabetically, they were: Mr. John Andre, Registrar, Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto; Mr. R. Kenneth Armstrong, former Director, Centennial Museum, Peterborough; Mrs. Kenneth Ashby, Port Hope; Miss Margery D isette, Curator of Furnishings, Upper Canada Village, Morrisburg; Mr. Elmer C. Dynes, Shelburne; Mrs. D. J . Frisken, former Curator, Centennial Museum, Peterborough; Mrs. Clyde E. Helfter, Curator of Iconography, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Buffalo; Mr. John N. Hoffman, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Hope K. Holdcamper, C ivil Archives Division, National Archives and Records Service, Washington; James Hunter, Toronto H istorical Board; Mrs. Elizabeth Ingolfsrud, Ontario Furniture Consultant, National Museum of Man, Ottawa; Mrs. Bruce Lewis, Registrar, York Pioneer and Historical Society, Toronto; Mr. John W. Lunau, Curator, Markham D istrict Historical Museum; Miss Margaret S. Machell, v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Custodian of The Grange, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Mr. and Mrs. Donald C. McClure, Aurora; Kenneth H. MacFarland, Librarian, Albany In s titu te of History and Art; Mrs. Margaret MacKelvie, Curator, Century Village, Lang; Mr. W. J. Patterson, Superintendent of Historic Sites, The S t. Lawrence Parks Commission, Morrisburg; Mr. Werk Poole, General Manager The Gibbard Furniture Shops Limited, Napanee; The Rochester H istorical Society; Mr. Ralph Schenk, Curator, Doon Pioneer Village, Doon; Mr. John L Scherer, Associate Curator, History, The University of the State of New York, The State Education Department; Mr. Paul G. Sifton, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington; Mr. M. W. Thomas, Jr., Chief Curator, New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown; and Mr. William D. Wallace, Director, Oswego County Historical Society. Thanks are extended also to the sta ff of the Henry Francis duPont Winterthur Museum Libraries, the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, the Detroit Public Library, the Rochester Public Library, the Toronto Central Reference Library, the Public Archives of Ontario and the Public Archives of Canada. The names of those individuals and institutions who graciously allowed me to photograph items in their collections are included with the . illustrations. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Contents Page Preface Acknowledgments v Introduction viii Chapters I . Some Early C'nairmakers and Centers of Production 1 II. The Business of Making, Finishing, and 18 Selling Chairs III. Trade in Chairs and Chair Parts 37 IV. Factory Production Begins 60 V. Contacts With the United States and Other Aspects of Chairmaking in the 18£0>s and •60»s 86 Illustrations 95 Bibliography 178 v ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Introduction Chairmaking, combining the traditional skills of the joiner, turner, carver and upholsterer, was recognized in England as a distinct occupation by the second h alf of the seventeenth century, 1 I f by th is time English craft divisions were not as rigid as they had been, in America they were even less so. By the nineteenth centuiy, the formal separation of woodworking

Load more