The Upholstery and Chairmaking Trades of Eighteenth-Century Newport, 1730–1790 Jennifer N. Johnson May 14, 2012 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the History of the Decorative Arts and Design MA Program in the History of the Decorative Arts and Design Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; and Parsons The New School for Design 2012 ©2012 Jennifer Nikole Johnson All Rights Reserved i Acknowledgements This study was made possible by my thesis advisor, Patricia Kane, a truly great teacher and an inspiring scholar, whose encouragement, expertise, and enthusiasm have been invaluable. Her research for Yale University Art Gallery’s Rhode Island Furniture Archive forms the foundation of this thesis. The many hours she devoted to poring over primary source documents – with help from principal researchers Dennis Carr, now Assistant Curator, Decorative Arts and Sculpture, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Ben Coleman, a former Marcia Brady Tucker Curatorial Fellow at Yale University Art Gallery – have brought to light the names of the previously unknown Rhode Island craftsmen featured in this thesis. I am also indebted to the following individuals for sharing their time, knowledge, and collections: Mark Anderson and Wendy Cooper of Winterthur Museum; Elizabeth Beach of the Colonel Daniel Putnam Association; Kristen Costa Francoeur, Bruce MacLeish, and Pieter Roos of the Newport Restoration Foundation; Caitlin Emery and Jessica Urick of the Preservation Society of Newport County; Erik Gronning of Sotheby’s; John Hays and Andrew Holter of Christie’s; Morrison Heckscher and Nicholas Vincent of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Stuart Holzer (collector); Elizabeth Lahikainen of Elizabeth Lahikainen and Associates; Ellen Madison of the Babcock-Smith House Museum; Alan Miller (independent furniture historian); Jennifer Robinson and Ruth Taylor of the Newport Historical Society; George Schoedinger (collector); and Adams Taylor (independent collections consultant). ii Special thanks are due to Gregory P. Feit, without whose patience, support, and editorial skills this thesis might never have been completed. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. i Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iii List of Illustrations ...............................................................................................................v Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: The Upholstery Trade in the Eighteenth Century ..........................................6 Origins and Development of the Trade ............................................................................6 The Eighteenth-Century Upholsterer ...............................................................................8 The Fabrication of Seating Furniture: Materials, Tools, and Techniques .....................13 Chapter Two: The Upholsterers of Eighteenth-Century Newport .....................................24 Chapter Three: The Chairmakers of Eighteenth-Century Newport ...................................38 Chapter Four: Catalogue of Upholstered Chairs ................................................................54 1. Side Chair, 1725 –1745, Probably Newport ..........................................................54 2. Side Chair, 1730 –1760, Probably Newport ..........................................................60 3. Side Chair, 1750–1775, Newport...........................................................................67 4. Armchairs (pair), 1755-1775, Probably Newport ..................................................74 5. Easy Chair, 1758, Newport, Caleb Gardner Jr. (upholsterer) ................................81 6. Easy Chair, 1725–1755, Probably Newport ..........................................................88 7. Easy Chair, 1775–1790, Newport ..........................................................................98 8. Easy Chair, 1780–1800, Newport ........................................................................105 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................111 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................118 Appendix 1: Upholsterer Biographies .............................................................................129 Caleb Gardner Jr. (1729–1801) ....................................................................................129 iv Peter Hall (w. 1736) .....................................................................................................137 John Harvey (w. 1744) .................................................................................................139 John Moore (d. 1762) ...................................................................................................140 Kendall Nichols (b. c. 1722–1774) ..............................................................................147 William Stanton (w. 1754) ...........................................................................................152 Robert Stevens (1713–1780)........................................................................................154 Appendix 2: Chairmaker Biographies .............................................................................163 Benjamin Baker (1734/5–1822) ...................................................................................163 Giles Barney (1725–1783) ...........................................................................................170 Daniel Dolorson (w. 1758–1759) ................................................................................173 Daniel Dunham (b. between 1685 and 1687, d.1758) .................................................177 Daniel Dunham III (1738–1815) .................................................................................181 Joseph Dunham (1723/4–1802) ...................................................................................183 Benjamin Gould (1735–1821) .....................................................................................187 John Lamb Jr. (w. 1747–1758) ....................................................................................191 John McClure (w. 1747–1749) ....................................................................................193 John Ormsby (w. 1733–1739)......................................................................................196 Samuel Phillips (w. 1782, d. 1788) ..............................................................................199 John Pitman (c. 1726–1768) ........................................................................................200 Joseph Pitman (c. 1695–1731) .....................................................................................205 John Proud Jr. (1714–1794) .........................................................................................208 Joseph Proud (1711–1769) ..........................................................................................213 William Robson (w. 1733; d. by 1737)........................................................................219 Timothy Waterhouse (c.1715–1792) ...........................................................................223 Illustrations ......................................................................................................................230 v List of Illustrations Figure 1: Trade Card of Christopher Gibson, London, 1730–1742. Figure 2: “Menuisierie en Meubles, Sieges,” from Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, etc., eds. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond D'Alembert. Figure 3: Bedstead, 1760-1800, Connecticut. Figure 4: Original show fabric of an easy chair, probably made in Newport, 1725–1755. Figure 5: John Hamilton Mortimer, Sergeant-at-Arms Bonfoy, His Son, and John Clementson, Sr., England, ca. 1770. Figure 6: Sample Book of Benjamin and John Bower, April 1, 1771. Figure 7: Upholsterer’s tools, from Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, etc., eds. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond D'Alembert. Figure 8: Slip seat with early webbing and sack cloth, Newport, 1760–1785. Figure 9a: Slat-back chair, Rhode Island, 1725–1750. Figure 9b: Banister-back chair, Newport, 1720–1740. Figure 10a: Roundabout chair, Newport, 1755–1780. Figure 10b: Detail of chair in figure 10a. Figure 11: Side chair, New England, 1730–1750. Figure 12: Side chair, attributed to John Gaines III (1704–1743), Portsmouth, NH, 1735– 1743. Figure 13: Side chair, Rhode Island, 1740–1750. Figure 14: Side chair, attributed to John Townsend, 1750-1775. Figures 15–16: Detail of chair in Figure 14. Figure 17: Arm chairs, probably made by John Townsend, 1785–1800. Figure 18: Detail of chair in Figure 17. vi Figure 19: Side chair, probably made in Newport, 1725-1745. Figures 20–24: Details of chair in Figure 19. Figure 25: Side chair, 1730–1760. Figure 26: Side view of chair in Figure 25. Figure 27: Side chair, 1730–1760, probably made in Newport. Figure 28: Side chair, 1725–1740, probably made in Boston. Figure 29: Side chair, attributed to John Goddard, c. 1762, Newport. Figure