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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1311995 * BROWK, MICHAEL KEVIN DUNCAN PHYFE. UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE (WINTERTHUR PROGRAM I t M .A . ? 1978 University; Micrtifiirns international 300 n . z e e b r o a d , a n n a r b o r , m i 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DUNCAN PHYFE BY Michael Kevin Brown 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., 1978 Copyright Michael Kevin Brown 1978 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DUNCAN PHYFE BY Michael Kevin Brown Approved: ^ . rajruJUkE IQaMOxft_______ Deborah Dependahl Waters, M. A. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: Qc LO f r & V ________ ___ Stephahie £. Wolf', Ph.D.' ' Coordij^atDf- of the Jfljjpterthur Program " Or Approved: /[JP/Y&aA ^f // /' l0i/^<j&v^ / 1 _____ Uni^rsity Coordinator Jbf Graduate Studies Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE Recognition of Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854) as a major American cabinetmaker can be dated as early as 1882, con­ current with the reacceptance of antique furniture in the Victorian decorating scheme, and only twenty-eight years after Phyfe*s death. The earliest reference to Phyfe is found in the order books of Ernest Hagen (1830 - c.1908), a New York City cabinetmaker and antiques dealer, which record the sale of old furniture described as "Phyfe*s 1 Antique," as well as reproductions in "Phyfe*s pattern.'* On June 15, 1886, Hagen billed Lenox Smith of 453 West 21st Street for "1 Phyfe*s Arm Chair (antique) in XVI Century old blue plush 5c fancy bronze nails 35.00, 1 small chair to 2 match (reproduction) 22.00." Hagen's interest in Duncan Phyfe, along with his desire to chronicle and preserve the history of the nineteenth-century New York cabinetmaking profession, led him to observe, research, and record pertin­ ent data. In 1907 he transcribed his findings in what has come to be known as Hagen's Memorandum Book (1907). Later ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iv scholars have discovered discrepancies in Hagen1s commen­ tary; nevertheless, his notes have provided the basis of our knowledge about Duncan Phyfe and have served as an i impetus for additional study. In the following years such distinguished authors as Charles Over Cornelius and William MacPherson Hornor, Jr., published articles or made reference to Phyfe in books about American craftsmen and furniture. Walter A.Dyer, in his book Early American Craftsmen, entitled a chapter "The Exquisite Furniture of Duncan Phyfe," while Thomas Hamilton Ormsbee gave the pretentious title "Duncan Phyfe, The Great" to a chapter in Early American Furniture Makers.^ The popularity of furniture in the "Phyfe style" was widespread. Manufac­ turers like the Century Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, aware of the developing market, began to reproduce the designs associated with the Phyfe cabinet shop for a twentieth-century clientele.^ Simultaneously, antique fur­ niture in this style once again became exceedingly fashion­ able, and important collections were formed by Mrs. Harry Horton Benkard, Henry Ford (who assembled more than 200 pieces), R.T. Haines Halsey, Louis Guerineau Myers, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Varick Stout, and Mrs. Giles Whiting. In 1938, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Henry Francis du Pont furnished a parlor from New York’s Moses Rogers House with several pieces of fine New York classical furniture and named the room in honor of Duncan Phyfe. Among the furnishings in the Phyfe Room is a set of mahogany chairs believed to be those referred to on a bill of sale from Phyfe to the New York merchant William Bayard (1761-1826).^ Mr. du Pont’s admiration for this graceful set of chairs is apparent in his foreword to Charles F. Montgomery's American Furniture: The Federal Period; Furniture of the Federal period has always inter­ ested me greatly. In 1929 I had the good fortune to acquire ten [twelve3 pieces of furniture made in 1807 for William Bayard of New York, together with their original bill from Duncan Phyfe. In the following year, I got the labelled desk by John Seymour & Son which is the frontispiece of this book. The Phyfe chairs and the desk pleased me especially because they were not only fine fur­ niture; they were identified."5 Phyfe-style furniture was exhibited in such major shows of the American arts as the Metropolitan Museum's "The Hudson-Fulton Celebration" in 1909, the Girl Scout Loan Exhibition of 1929, in which almost fifty pieces were inclu­ ded, and in the 1934 exhibition of New York State furniture held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1922 the Metro­ politan Museum presented "Furniture Masterpieces of Duncan Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Phyfe," an exhibition of classical furniture believed to have been the products of Phyfe*s cabinet shop, the first museum exhibition totally devoted to the work of a single American cabinetmaker. In conjunction with this exhibition, the museum published Furniture Masterpieces of Duncan Phyfe by Charles Over Cornelius. Undoubtedly, this exhibition stimulated decorative arts historians to study Duncan Phyfe in even greater depth, and the number of articles published about Phyfe and his furniture proliferated. In 1939, Nancy McClelland (1876-1959), an interior designer, antiquarian, and the author of four books about historic wallpapers and colonial decorations, compiled the considerable amount of previously written material, combined it with information derived from her own research and pub­ lished Duncan Phyfe and the English Regency.McClelland’s book is an admirable treatise for that time and remains the most comprehensive study on Phyfe. However, she relied heavily on previously published articles rather than consul­ ting the original documents. Consequently, her book contains misinterpretations as well as information which cannot be confirmed today. ^ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vii Since 1939, countless articles about Duncan Phyfe have appeared in a variety of publications; without excep­ tion, these monographs have not contributed any additional knowledge of Phyfe and have simply adapted McClelland1s information. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to reexamine and reevaluate the present knowledge of Duncan Phyfe. To ' interpret more accurately Phyfefs significance as a cabinetmaker and entrepreneur, I examined the avail­ able manuscript materials and sought out newspaper adver­ tisements, tax lists, and probate and shipping records. Although I located, and, whenever possible, examined the fifteen or so known pieces of signed or labelled Phyfe fur­ niture, they did not figure prominently in my study. Instead, it is the objective of this thesis to provide a clearer under­ standing of the organisation and operation of the Phyfe cab­ inet shop and to assess Duncan Phyfe's importance and influ­ ence in the New York cabinet making trade, as well as in the development of the taste of New York's upper class. Recently an advanced collector of New York classical furniture wrote: "It is obvious... that the classical furni­ ture made in New York City during the first two decades of the nineteenth century is certainly aesthetically equal if Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. not superior to that made anywhere in the world." While such a qualification may be overly ambitious, nevertheless. New York classical furniture has long been of interest to both collectors and scholars.