DOCSLIB.ORG

From Carved to Paint

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
From Carved to Paint INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margin*^ and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FROM CARVED TO PAINTED: CHESTS OF CENTRAL AND COASTAL CONNECTICUT, c. 1675-1725 by Martha H. Willoughby A thesis submitted to the Facility of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Early American Culture Fall 1994 ©1994 Martha H. Willoughby All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1375146 UMI Microform 1375146 Copyright 1995, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FROM CARVED TO PAINTED: CHESTS OF CENTRAL AND COASTAL CONNECTICUT, c. 1675-1725 by Martha H. Willoughby Approved: J. Ritchie Garrison, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis Approved: <2- jZr.mes C. Curtis, Ph.D. hjbirector i of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Approved: Carol E. Hoffecker, PI Associate Provost for-Graduate Studies Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, J. Ritchie Garrison, for his unwavering guidance. Throughout the project, he sifted through ideas, polished my thoughts, and edited meticulously. Robert F. Trent also gave much of his time and offered invaluable assistance. Not only did he provide the corpus of objects for investigation, but he refined drafts and provided answers to my many questions. At the beginnings of my research, Susan Prendergast Schoelwer shared her voluminous and detailed notes on Sunflower furniture. I was able to proceed with much more expertise on the subject once armed with her insights. I am particularly grateful to those who provided access to the objects. In private homes and institutions, owners and curators sacrificed much of their valuable time for my benefit. Others went out of their way to lend support. These individuals include Karen Blanchfield, Daniel P. and Nannie W. T. Brown, Ned Cooke, Bill Hosley, Johanna McBrien, Nancy McRaney Rosebrock, Frances Gruber Safford, Kevin Sweeney, Neville Thompson, Fred and Anne Vogel, and Gerry Ward. Finally, I am most grateful to the personal support given by friends and family members. I would especially like to thank Richard Murphy, Kirk Swinehart, and Sandy, Jenny, and Hilary Willoughby. For his unconditional support of my interests and my continuing remembrance, I dedicate this work to Geoffrey D. M. Willoughby. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS KEY TO CHESTS' NUMBERING SYSTEM................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................xi ABSTRACT...................................................................................................xii CARVED AND PAINTED CHESTS: I. Introduction...........................................................................................1 n. The Group I Tradition......................................................................... 4 HI. The Group II Shops............................................................................ 77 IV. European Sources............................................................................... 98 V. Conclusion.........................................................................................116 APPENDIX A: Woodworkers in Branford, Guilford, Killingworth, and Saybrook, c. 1700-1720...............................................................118 APPENDIX B: Guilford Chests According to Design Types..................................120 TABLES........................................................................................................ 123 BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................132 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. KEY TO CHESTS' NUMBERING SYSTEM Throughout the text, figures, and tables, the following numbers are used to refer to specific chests. In figures that depict an entire chest, the owners have been noted. For figures of details, the reader should consult this guide. Also, dimensions for those chests in the following categories have been noted here (in inches). Dimensions for other chests illustrated are noted under the figures. No. Owner Figure(s) SUNFLOWER CHESTS: 2 Yale University Art Gallery, 1930.2191 (H: 39 3/4 W: 471/2 D: 211/4, with lid) ................................... 16c 3 The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 58.530 (H: 377/8 W: 44 5/8 D: 20 7/8, with lid) ...................... 6a, 9a, 17b 6 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 32.283 (H: 40 W: 48 D: 21 5/8, with lid) ............................. not illustrated 7 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 66.190.1 (H: 38 3/4 W: 45 D: 20 1/8, without lid) .................................... 15a 12 Wadsworth Atheneum (H: 39 W: 45 D: 20 1/8, without lid) .......................not illustrated 16 The Connecticut Historical Society, 1981-123-0 (H: 361/2 W: 4513/16 D: 19 7/16, without lid) ...........4b, 11,15b 17 The Connecticut Historical Society, 1849-13-0 (H: 381/2 W: 45 5/8 D: 19 1/4, without lid) ......................15c, 18a 18 Yale University Art Gallery, 1800.4 (Dimensions not available)........................................ not illustrated 19 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 10.125.689 (H: 38 W: 441/2 D: 20, without lid) ............................4a, 14a, 15d v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 20 The Connecticut Historical Society, 1846-24-0 (Dimensions not available) not illustrated 24 Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (H: 39 W: 451/8 D: 201/4, without lid) .................not illustrated 25 Historic Deerfield, Inc., 63-76 (H: 39 3/4 W: 46 D: 21, with lid) .....................................6b, 16b, 19 26 Historic Deerfield, Inc., 1380 (H: 39 3/16 W: 44 3/4 D: 19 7/8, without lid) ........................... 18b 27 The American Museum, Bath, England, DB/12490-16 (H: 38 3/8 W: 441/4 D: 20, without lid).................not illustrated 34 Stowe-Day Foundation, 85.3 (H: 42 W: 481/4 D: 211/2, with lid) ........................................16a GROUP I CHESTS: 1 The Connecticut Historical Society, 1945-1-1114 (H: 31 W: 45 D: 19 5/16, without lid) ........................... la, 10b, 22b 2 The Art Institute of Chicago, 46.581 (H: 371/4 W: 48 D: 21, with lid) ...................................................20 3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 10.125.29 (H: 311/2 W: 4413/16 D: 19 1/4, without lid) ..........................22a 6 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 50.3786 (H: 33 W: 44 3/4 D: 19 1/2, without lid) ........................ 5b, 9b, 21b 11 East Hampton Historical Society (H: 36 3/4 W: 441/8 D: 18, without lid) .....................................21a Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vii GUILFORD CHESTS: 1 Wadsworth Atheneum, 1926-327 (H: 421/2 W: 421/4 D: 19 1/8, without top)................ 10c, 25,27 2 The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 57.1110 (H: 541/2 W: 401/8 D: 211/8, with top) 8d,9c,26 5 The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 58.571 (H: 191/8 W: 29 D: 175/8, with lid) .......................................... 24b 6 Private Collection (Dimensions not available)........................................not illustrated 7 Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, 1973.2 (H: 331/8 W: 42 7/8 D: 183/16)....................................... 23b
Load more

Recommended publications
  • JC-Catalogue-Cabinetry.Pdf
    jonathan charles fine furniture • cabinetry & beds catalogue • volume 1 volume • furniture fine cabinetry • & beds catalogue jonathan charles USA & CANADA 516 Paul Street, P.O. Box 672 Rocky Mount, NC.27802, United States t 001-252-446-3266 f 001-252-977-6669 [email protected] HIGH POINT SHOWROOM chests of drawers • bookcases, bookshelves & étagères • cabinets • beds 200 North Hamilton Building 350 Fred Alexander Place High Point, NC.27260, United States t 001-336-889-6401 UK & EUROPE Unit 6c, Shortwood Business Park Dearne Valley Park Way, Hoyland South Yorkshire, S74 9LH, United Kingdom t +44 (0)1226 741 811 & f +44 (0)1226 744 905 Cabinetry Beds [email protected] j o n a t h a n c h a r l e s . c o m printed in china It’s all in the detail... CABINETRY & BEDS JONATHAN CHARLES CABINETRY & BEDS CATALOGUE VOL.1 CHESTS OF DRAWERS 07 - 46 BOOKCASES, BOOKSHELVES... 47 - 68 CABINETS 69 - 155 BEDS 156 - 164 JONATHANCHARLES.COM CABINETRY & BEDS Jonathan Charles Fine Furniture is recognised as a top designer and manufacturer of classic and period style furniture. With English and French historical designs as its starting point, the company not only creates faithful reproductions of antiques, but also uses its wealth of experience to create exceptional new furniture collections – all incorporating a repertoire of time- honoured skills and techniques that the artisans at Jonathan Charles have learned to perfect. Jonathan Charles Fine Furniture was established by Englishman Jonathan Sowter, who is both a trained cabinet maker and teacher. Still deeply involved in the design of the furniture, as well as the direction of the business, Jonathan oversees a skilled team of managers and craftspeople who make fine furniture for discerning customers around the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Woodworking Traditio
    INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations 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 through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image o f the page can be found in the adjacent frame. I f copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of “sectioning” the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand comer o f a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again-beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
    [Show full text]
  • Gate Leg Antique Table
    Gate Leg Antique Table Inceptive Lewis curarizes some procreant after invulnerable Ed cicatrizing barefoot. Ignatius is rudish and unchurch straightway as Guam Conan chatted restfully and disburden commensurately. Danie usually bleaches fruitfully or probating compactedly when hammiest Knox reconstitutes glimmeringly and insinuatingly. It is solid arrangement still had a antique gate leg To prevent surface scratches, add FIXA floor protectors, sold separately. Rustic 1th century antique English oak table leg table Purchased many years ago in Derby England this cheerful table whether a single board directory and each 13. Collection of Peter Eliot; photo, Gavin Ashworth. Do i accept cookies from its age the antique table recently imported direct evidence. May 7 201 1930s oval oak wood leg table with bullet drop leaf sides extends to 6075. Take a walk through time off find vintage drop the gate leg console table. No burn marks or inaccurate shipments will then painted drawer blanket wrap deliveries possible delivery is at a valid email for shippers. Gate Leg pain for sale eBay. AMi Design such sheer pleasure. The ceiling is distinguished by a top have a raised carved or molded scalloped edge that resembles the crimped crust of beauty pie. Looks like your location is save in our Shipping Matrix. Vintage side of drawers hidden behind a shipping arrangements required fields do not a cost. An exceptional Rhode Island gateleg table with superb turnings, original drawer and full feet. We sometimes ship using USPS Priority. AMi Design is home like interior designer and founder Carmela Acerra Posillico. It is solid beautiful ocean community on top where space in.
    [Show full text]
  • A Tradition of Craftsmen: the Dominy Craftsman of East Hampton
    Transcript of Lecture Delivered by Dean Failey on October 25, 1998 A Tradition of Craftsmen: The Dominy Craftsman of East Hampton East Hampton has secured a permanent and prominent role in the study of furniture-making in America because of the fortuitous survival of not only documentary written records concerning three generations of the Dominy family’s woodworking craft practice but also the remarkable existence of the actual shops where they worked and the tools with which they worked. Their specific detailed story will be told by Charles Hummel and it is not my intention to cover the same ground. Rather, I hope to place the Dominys in a broader context of a craft tradition specific to East Hampton and which attempts to explain why the furniture that was made in this community over a period of 150 years looks the way it does. The study of decorative arts and material culture today had progressed from an antiquarian approach that stressed a hierarchial, elitist and identification-oriented methodology to a more inclusive analysis which desires to encompass social, political, economic and even religious issues which might impact the objects, the craftsmen who produced them and even the consumers who bought them. The conclusions I have reached may conflict with or contradict some of the other presentations you have heard in this series but history, particularly social and cultural history, is comprised of many layers which lead scholars to a variety of interpretations. In my case, I have tried to let the objects speak for themself. The relative ease with which we travel today, not to mention our ability to span hundreds and even thousands of miles with telephones, faxes, radios and televisions, dulls our senses to what it meant to be living in East Hampton in 1650, 1750, or 1850.
    [Show full text]
  • From Royal to Republican: the Classical Image in Early America Author(S): Caroline Winterer Reviewed Work(S): Source: the Journal of American History, Vol
    From Royal to Republican: The Classical Image in Early America Author(s): Caroline Winterer Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of American History, Vol. 91, No. 4 (Mar., 2005), pp. 1264-1290 Published by: Organization of American Historians Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3660173 . Accessed: 23/11/2011 20:14 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Organization of American Historians is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of American History. http://www.jstor.org From Royal to Republican: The Classical Image in Early America Caroline Winterer For suggestions on how to use this article in the U.S. history classroom, see our "Teachingthe JAH" Web project at <http://www.indiana.edu/-jah/teaching/>. The discoveryof the New World in the fifteenth centurytriggered a flood of pictorial representations of a new land that few Europeans had ever seen but that they could now imagine as an earthly paradise populated by luxuriant plants, bizarre animals, and hungry cannibals. Yet once resident in that new world, transplanted Europeans maintained a lively interest in the old, especially the ancient classical world. Seen by few but known by many, Greece and Rome were ancient places as fascinating to both Europeans and Americans as the Western Hemisphere was to homebound Europe- ans.
    [Show full text]
  • Fine English Furniture & Works Of
    Bonhams 101 New Bond Street London W1S 1SR +44 (0) 20 7447 7447 +44 (0) 20 7447 7400 fax 20741 Fine English Furniture & Works of Art, of Works Fine English Furniture & 6 March 2013, New Bond Street, London Bond Street, New 6 March 2013, Fine English Furniture & Works of Art Wednesday 6 March 2013 at 2pm New Bond Street, London Fine English Furniture & Works of Art Wednesday 6 March 2013 at 2pm New Bond Street, London Bonhams Enquiries Customer Services 101 New Bond Street [email protected] Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6pm London W1S 1SR +44 (0) 20 7447 7447 www.bonhams.com Furniture & Works of Art Guy Savill Please see back of catalogue Viewing +44 (0) 8700 273 604 for important notice to bidders Sunday 3 March 11am to 3pm [email protected] Monday 4 March 9am to 4.30pm Illustrations Tuesday 5 March 9am to 4.30pm Sally Stratton Front cover: Lot 20 Wednesday 6 March 9am to 12pm +44 (0) 8700 273 603 Back cover: Lot 18 [email protected] Inside front cover: Lot 285 (detail) Bids Inside back cover: Lot 285 (detail) +44 (0) 20 7447 7448 Sculpture 20741 +44 (0) 20 7447 7401 fax Rachael Osborn-Howard Sale Number: To bid via the internet please visit +44 (0) 8700 273 610 £20 (£25 by post) www.bonhams.com [email protected] Catalogue: Please provide details of the lots Administrator Live online bidding is on which you wish to place bids Jackie Brown available for this sale at least 24 hours prior to the sale.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Lot Listing
    ® INCLUDING BELLE EPOQUE TUESDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2019 ® AUCTION Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at 10am EXHIBITION Saturday, November 23, 10am – 5pm Sunday, November 24, Noon – 5pm Monday, November 25, 10am – 2pm LOCATION Doyle 175 East 87th Street New York City 212-427-2730 www.Doyle.com Catalog: $10 7 12 PAINTINGS Cecil Beaton Antoine Blanchard The Marian Sulzberger Heiskell & Andrew Heiskell Collection British, 1904-1980 French, 1910-1988 1 Peasant - Adriana Lecouvreur Arc de Triomphe Signed Beaton (lr); Signed Antoine. Blanchard. (ll); Doyle is honored to present The Marian Sulzberger Heiskell and Andrew Heiskell 19th Century School inscribed Adriana Le Couvreur on the reverse inscribed A. Blanchard on the reverse Collection in select auctions throughout the Fall season. A civic leader and Fruits with Lizard Oil on canvas Watercolor and gouache on paper Oil on canvas philanthropist, Marian championed outdoor community spaces across 9 1/2 x 13 1/4 inches Sight 13 7/8 x 10 inches 13 x 18 inches (sheet 18 5/8 x 12 3/4 inches) New York and led a nonprofit organization responsible for restoring C Provenance: the 42nd Street theatres. She was instrumental in the 1972 campaign $400-600 Provenance: Carel Gallery, Miami Beach, FL to create the Gateway National Recreation Area, a 26,000-acre park with scattered Palm Beach Galleries, Palm Beach, FL C 2 C Property from a Park Avenue Estate $3,000-5,000 beaches and wildlife refuges around the entrance to the New York-New Jersey 20th Century School $700-1,000 harbor. For 34 years, she worked as a Director of The New York Times, where Autumn River Scene 13 Oil on canvas her grandfather, father, husband, brother, nephew and grand-nephew served as 8 Arbit Blatas 24 x 36 inches Mersad Berber Lithuanian, 1908-1999 successive publishers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Kaufman Collection
    For optimal use of this interactive PDF, please view in Acrobat Reader on a computer/laptop. enter National Gallery of Art > STYLES WIL L IAM AND MARY STYLE (C. 1710 – 1735) QUEEN ANNE STYLE (C. 1735 – 1760) CHIPPENDALE OR ROCOCO STYLE (C. 1750 – 1780) FEDERAL OR EARLY CLASSICAL STYLE (C. 1785 – 1810) LATE CLASSICAL OR EMPIRE STYLE (C. 1805 – 1830) CATO S AL URBAN CENTERS BOT S ON NEWPORT PHILADelPHIA BALTIMORE WILLIAMSBURG CHARLESTON TY PES OF FURNITURE S EATING FURNITURE TABLES DESKS CHESTS LOOKING GLASSES CLOCKS selecteD WORKS GLOSSARY < > < > Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700 – 1830 offers visitors to the nation’s capital an unprecedented opportunity to view some of the finest furniture made by colonial and post-revolutionary American artisans. This presentation includes more than one hundred objects from the promised gift, announced in 2010, of the collection formed by Linda H. Kaufman and the late George M. Kaufman. From a rare Massachusetts William and Mary japanned dressing table to Philadelphia’s outstanding rococo expressions and the early and later classical styles of the new federal republic, the Kaufman Collection presents a compendium of American artistic talent over more than a century of history. This promised gift marks the Gallery’s first acquisition of American decorative arts and dramatically transforms the collection, complementing the existing holdings of European decorative arts. The interior of the Kaufmans’ house in Norfolk, Virginia (pages 2 – 3, 5) < > < > The Kaufman Collection represents five decades’ pursuit of the highest quality in American craftsmanship. The Kaufmans made their first acquisition in the late 1950s with the purchase of a chest of drawers to furnish an apartment in Charlottesville when George was completing his MBA at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
    [Show full text]
  • Furnishings Plan for the Wick House
    FURNISHINGS PLAN for the WICK HOUSE June 1974 MAT _ _,_ -----·.... .,._ <•• aow) ........ UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum 10/:0/73 TO DATE: ~-lLP .:!terson FROM ~ick House Furnishin~ Plan SUBJECT: Io'inally I hav~ mc.:m.:r.;;;;;..d to finish readin6 !-'!iss Cat::J.lano 's fin~ furnishing plan aft2;: on~ int~:c:cupt,~cl ·w:=alcend and s2v~ra.l 8Vanings that se3Hle<i mo:c;;; than usually frau6ht v:tith t:el..::phon..; :.;alls. Zcsan·i::i..~lly this se2ws sJ:milar ·;;o a d:::aft I r.:!u.d a y,2ar o::: so .ngo e~we·)t for SOT!lo.;;!\·J"hat :::e,~·-=J: h.s.nsinu; ·.;·•.:::.11 :-:.·c.;.~:~s and th:; sh:i..ftJ.ng of Ta1ap.:! ~ s sl~epint; ar2a. I noi:~ ·;::hai: :~a thy h.8.s s·t:at.:!d. that ·;;hz:cc:: ;j·as no st:::uc·tural evic'icnc~ fo:L a corn::;r euiGoc::r:J in l:.';)S't>Ons~ to i.ny ~d:clier que-ry on this oubj .act. She is c~u:l..te probably rish·;:, but I hav~ nagging recollections that the \iic!\. house h.:..d be.:n so altered and deteriorate~ ~h~n ~~ un~ertoo~ tha reotoration tha.t such evidenc~ rnight 't·Jell h.s.ve been lost. I hava not s-=.en th~ :r8poTts on the building itself in many y.:!ars :i..£ ever so ·i:his is just a n~ention of a possibly groundless ix1.pression. Aft2.r :ceading and thinking about this plan I have a fe'~1J gc;;ner,:;,;,l thout;;hts which I mention fo:c what they m.;;,y l>e worth.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Colonial Furniture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
    he Metropolitan Museum began to form a collection of American furniture of the colonial and early federal periods almost exactly one hundred years ago. The driving force behind this effort was Henry W. Kent, assistant to Robert W. de Forest, the secretary to the museum’s board of trustees and its president in 1913. The catalyst was the 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration commemorating both the discovery of the Hudson River by Henry Hudson in 1609 and Robert TFulton’s first successful navigation of the river in a steamboat in 1807. As part of that state- and citywide celebration, the museum mounted a large loan exhibition: one section consisting of sev- enteenth-century Dutch paintings to represent Hudson, who was employed by the Dutch East India Company when he found the river named after him; and, at Kent’s suggestion, a second containing examples of American decorative arts and paintings from the seventeenth century to about 1815, the year of Fulton’s death. The latter was the first comprehensive exhibition of American art held in a major art museum and its success proved that American “domestic arts” were worthy of attention. by Frances Gruber Safford Early Colonial Furniture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Chief among the lenders of furniture, particularly of the seventeenth century, was H. Eugene Bolles, a Boston lawyer, who had begun collecting in the 1880s and by 1909 had gathered over four hundred pieces of furniture and innumerable other objects. Kent had had his eye on that col- lection since at least 1907, and before the close of the Hudson-Fulton exhibition he convinced de Forest that it should be acquired.
    [Show full text]
  • Two-Fold Design: the Oval Gate-Leg Table As Household Commodity in Seventeenth-Century New York Hannah Boettcher
    Boettcher 1 Two-Fold Design: The Oval Gate-leg Table as Household Commodity in Seventeenth-Century New York Hannah Boettcher Figure 1. Gate-leg trestle table. Probably New York, c. 1660-1700. Soft maple, maple, butternut, cherry, oak. 1958.0527. Gift of Henry Francis du Pont. Winterthur Museum. Displayed in Tappahannock Room. When folded up and pushed to the edge of a room, this small table seems like an unassuming version of a larger, familiar form. Since its creation for a late seventeenth-century New York household, this trestle-base, oval gate-leg table flexibly served the daily activities its owners (Figure 1 and Figure 2).1 Henry Francis du Pont purchased the item from an unknown source, most likely contemporaneous with purchases of other seventeenth-century and William and Mary style furnishings in the late 1920s. Like many other objects from the early seventeenth century, it puzzles experts. Furniture scholar, Benno M. Forman, noted in the 1970s that this object has many “distinctive quirks”: a solid, medial stretcher exhibiting Northern European technique; turnings similar to Boston styles; a trestle foot that might denote its categorization as a New York table. Its two gates are made with maple balusters, oak upper stretchers, and soft maple pivot spindles; the trestle base is butternut, but the upper trestle is made of cherry and attached to cherry top. In the absence of documented provenance, it is the presence of these materials and “distinctive quirks” that provide meaningful insights about the table’s style and previous uses. It is a cultural artifact that merged many distinctive materials and influences when New York’s history was in a state of transition.2 Boettcher 2 Figure 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Exhibition Brochure a Look Inside Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700–1830 Offers
    For optimal use of this interactive PDF, please view in Acrobat Reader on a computer/laptop. enter National Gallery of Art > STYLES WIllIAM AND MARY Style (C. 1710 – 1735) QUeeN ANNE Style (C. 1735 – 1760) CHIPPENDAle OR ROCOCO Style (C. 1750 – 1780) FEDERAL OR EARly CLAssICAL Style (C. 1785 – 1810) LAte CLAssICAL OR EMPIRE Style (C. 1805 – 1830) COASTAL URBAN CENTERS BOstON NewPORT PHILADelPHIA BAltIMORE WIllIAMsbURG CHARlestON TYPES OF FURNITURE SEATING FURNITURE TAbles DesKS CHests LOOKING GLAsses CLOCKS selecteD WORKS GLOssARY < > < > Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700 – 1830 offers visitors to the nation’s capital an unprecedented opportunity to view some of the finest furniture made by colonial and post-revolutionary American artisans. This presentation includes more than one hundred objects from the promised gift, announced in 2010, of the collection formed by Linda H. Kaufman and the late George M. Kaufman. From a rare Massachusetts William and Mary japanned dressing table to Philadelphia’s outstanding rococo expressions and the early and later classical styles of the new federal republic, the Kaufman Collection presents a compendium of American artistic talent over more than a century of history. This promised gift marks the Gallery’s first acquisition of American decorative arts and dramatically transforms the collection, complementing the existing holdings of European decorative arts. The interior of the Kaufmans’ house in Norfolk, Virginia (pages 2 – 3, 5) < > < > The Kaufman Collection represents five decades’ pursuit of the highest quality in American craftsmanship. The Kaufmans made their first acquisition in the late 1950s with the purchase of a chest of drawers to furnish an apartment in Charlottesville when George was completing his MBA at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
    [Show full text]