Colonial Furniture in America

Diking the eleven years that have elapsed since the publication of the first edition of this work, many important pieces of furniture have been brought to the attention of the writer, which substantiate the theory of development therein expressed. The writer has had the opportunity to examine several thousand pieces of American and English furniture, and from this examination it has become possible to determine in many instances the section of the country in which a piece was made. This examination has also shown the importancc of mouldings in determining date and locality, and emphasis has been placed upon this feature throughout this work. So much new material has been acquired that the book has been entirely rewritten, the type reset, and the form extended to two volumes.

The writer wishes to express his thanks and appreciation to the Metropolitan Museum of Art not only for placing at his disposal for examination its various collections, especially the Holies Collection of American Furniture, probably the most important ever assembled, but also for furnishing him with such photographs of pieces as were desired. He also wishes to express his thanks to the many collectors who have uniformly assisted him in this work, and especially to Mr. H.W. Erving for his untiring and enthusiastic aid, which has contributed much to the completeness of this book, and to Mr. Walter H. Durfee, who has furnished valuable information incorporated in the chapter on clocks.

The object of the present volume is to furnish the collector, and other persons interested in the subject of American colonial furniture, with a trustworthy handbook on the subject, having especially in mind the natural development of the various styles, and arranging them in such a way as to enable any one at a glance to determine under what general style and date a piece of furniture falls.

The sources of information from which this book has been derived are: examination of inventories and contemporary records, all available newspapers, works on the subjects of furniture, architecture, and interior wood-work by English, French, German, Italian, and American writers, general and commercial histories, books on manners and customs, ancient dictionaries, cabinet-makers' books of design, ancient and modern, and examination of specimens of furniture, both colonial and foreign.

The last of these sources is the most important, and New England is particularly rich in examples of the earliest as well as the later furniture, while the South is wofully lacking in any pieces prior to the mahogany period, although the inventories show that such pieces existed more abundantly there even than in the North.

New England possesses many fine collections, both public and private, and as these collections contain examples from both North and South. We have in many cases used them in illustrating instead of taking specimens still in the South.

In the last few years many pieces of the seventeenth-century furniture have come to light which fully carry out the idea of development insisted on in this volume, but often it has been impossible to obtain pictures of these pieces, the owners fearing the reproducer.

As to the inventories, it must be borne in mind that they are misleading. The dates will always be late for a style, as there is no way of telling how long a piece, when mentioned in the inventories, had been in the possession of the deceased before the inventory was taken, and we believe the tendency has heretofore been to date too late rather than too early. A fairly safe guide to follow is to deduct ten years from the inventory date. Then as to valuations. The inventory valuations are, of course, very low, usually about three-fifths to one-half of the true value, and if before 1710 account must be taken of the fact that the purchasing power of money was then about five times what it is at present.

The method followed in dating the specimens of furniture here shown has been to suggest the time when the style represented was in common use, and no attempt has been made to place the date of any specimen exactly, for only under special circumstances could that be done.

The writer wishes to express his thanks to the various collectors and persons having family pieces for their universal kindness in allowing him to examine and photograph their furniture, and for the interest they have taken in this work.

The history of the cabinet-maker's art is the record of the unconscious struggle toward an ideal which, when finally attained, destroyed all further inspiration. This ideal persisted from one age to another, never retrograding, and each succeeding age saw it more clearly, until, at the close of the eighteenth century, it was found that its limitations had been reached. Incident to this development, many styles originated and were carried to their conclusions, and were either amalgamated with a new style or abandoned.

The ideal successfully attained was the production of furniture with a minimum of material and a delicacy of form sufficient to withstand the strain for which it was made. The medium of ornament and decoration was secondary to that of form, and when the form of any style had been perfected the decoration became more ornate, until a new style was welcomed as a return to simplicity. It therefore follows, as a general rule, that the earlier the example the greater its simplicity of line and ornamentation.

The origin and development of the various styles were dependent upon many conditions, social, commercial, and political. The earliest European furniture was crude and heavy. It consisted of only such articles as were essential to domestic life, such as chests, tables, benches, bed frames, and, occasionally, chairs. In the reign of James I, when the American colonization began, England had not advanced far as a manufacturing country. The Dutch were still the great commercial race, carrying on a prosperous trade with Spain, Portugal, and the East Indies. Antwerp also was a great commercial centre and was exporting to England household furniture and choice dry-goods, receiving in exchange only crude raw materials, such as wool, lead, and tin, together with beer and cheese. Holland was at this time receiving from Spain and Italy the cane furniture which later came to England under Charles II.

The furniture in England of this period was rectangular in form, and such articles as stood on legs were heavily underbraced. Tables were made of oak with bulb-turned legs, often with rails carved in arabesque or lunette patterns. Occasionally a table would have a single leaf with a swinging leg, the forerunner of the gate-legged table. Many of the oak tables were arranged to be extended, one leaf lapping over the other when not extended. The dining-table of the middle class consisted of a deal board mounted on three or four standards. Chairs were either of the wainscot type, heavy and more or less carved, or of the plain turned variety with three or four legs. Oak chests and cupboards were in common use.

During the reign of Charles I there was very little change in the form of furniture, except that the French form of chair was introduced with turned legs, the back and seat of leather or embroidery making a decidedly lighter effect than the wainscot type. Chairs were not at all common, but stools and forms were used in their place. Oak was almost the universal wood, and did not lend itself to any style other than the massive. Couches or day beds were also in use among the wealthy class at this time.

In the early days of the Commonwealth little, if any, change took place in the prevailing styles of furniture, except possibly that the Puritan spirit asserted itself in a certain stiffness of form and also in the more general use of chairs. Late in the Commonwealth walnut was introduced, and with the use of this wood came a lightness not before attained. Legs were spiral or slightly turned, and cane was employed for the seats and backs of chairs. Chests became less popular, and in their place were used cupboards with drawers and chests of drawers.

With the Restoration came greater comfort and luxury, brought by Charles and his followers from France and Holland. Cane chairs of beech and walnut, with carved cresting, sides, and underbrace, took the place of the simple stiff chairs. Turnings on table legs became more refined, and the heavy oak tables were superseded by tables with two leaves. Chests of drawers took the place of chests. Marquetry was introduced, and expensive textiles and embroideries were more commonly imported to cover upholstered chairs. The Flemish scroll became the dominant form of ornamentation, and this scroll, when used as legs of chairs and tables, was the forerunner of the cabriole leg.

During the reign of William and Mary many changes took place in the style of furniture, due not only to the fact that William was distinctly Dutch and brought with him Dutch ideas and Dutch workmen, but also to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, after which many artisans fled to England. During the first part of this reign the popularity of the Flemish furniture was at its height, but this style was gradually replaced by the Dutch style. The chests of drawers were raised from the floor on turned cup-shaped legs, and that same form of leg was extensively used on chairs and tables; marquetry and japanning became popular, and carving almost completely disappeared. Chinese objects were extensively imported and collecting became a fad. The furniture, however, did not reflect this fashion, except in fret design and japanning, until about 1740.

In the American colonies the same change in style is noticeable, except that marquetry was but little used.

It would be difficult to understand the variations in style of the furniture in the American colonies up to this time without having clearly in mind the reasons lot the formation of the different colonies.

In New England the first settlement was at Plymouth, made by a band of religious enthusiasts who had previously fled from England to Holland to escape religious persecution and obtain religious liberty. They lived for some years in that country, until, foreseeing that the political changes taking place in Holland might curtail their liberty, they decided to establish a colony in the New World, on the Delaware River, under the jurisdiction of the London Company. These people were poor and, because of their unsettled lives, probably had little property. This little company after crossing the Atlantic found themselves off Cape Cod, which was under the jurisdiction of the Plymouth Company. Here they landed, hoping to obtain a grant. It was a small and struggling band of men and women who faced starvation and Indian perils, and it was not until 1624 that success was assured. The grant to the land upon which they had settled was given to a joint stock company, and in 1627 the settlers bought the stock, which was not finally paid for until 1633. The colony was always small and did not exceed in number three thousand, in 1643, when emigration ceased. It could hardly be expected, therefore, that this colony would have anything but bare necessities during its early existence, and the inventories at Plymouth show this to be the fact.

The Puritan emigration was, however, quite different. The purpose of their exodus from England was to form a theocratic government in the new country moulded after the model set for them in the Old Testament. They came from the west of England, the Puritan stronghold, and were persons of means. One of the principal reasons for the exodus was the political condition of England during the early reign of Charles I, and it is more than a coincidence that between 1629 and 164O, the period when Charles tried to rule England without Parliament, that twenty-six thousand persons emigrated to New England. This exodus ceased with the beginning of the Civil War. It is undoubtedly true that these persons not only brought with them household goods and furniture, but, as they became prosperous, many of the comforts of England and Holland were imported by them in exchange for the raw products of the New World.

The influence of the Dutch in the New World was both direct and indirect. During the war for independence in Holland many thousands of artisans and skilled workers fled to England. They settled, for the most part, in the west of England among the people who founded New England. They were Protestants and lovers of liberty, and sufficiently like the persons among whom they lived to become quickly assimilated, and many of the Puritans coming to New England had this foreign blood. It is this probably that, in part at least, accounts for the similarity of design in furniture and decoration between the two countries. The Dutch settlement in America was made primarily for trading. Manhattan Island was selected, because of the Hudson River and the magnificent harbour, as the most desirable post for the fur trade. The settlements were under the direction of the Dutch West India Company, but the growth was slow, composed mostly of traders who came and went, and, of course, these people carried few household articles. It became evident that in order to secure a permanent and self-supporting community the farmer class must be encouraged to settle there, but the Dutch had obtained independence at home and were loath to leave the peace for which they had so long striven for the dangers of the New World. To overcome this feeling and to encourage emigration the West India Company in 1629 issued a charter, providing that any person bringing to New Netherlands fifty persons and settling them in homes on the Hudson River should have a grant of land to be held in a semi-feudal tenure of patroon or lord of the manor.

This charter seems to have had the desired effect of making permanent settlements, but even then the Dutch colony did not increase as rapidly as that of New England, and it was not until further inducements had been made that people of quality and education came in any numbers. This was about the year 1639, and it is probable that prior to that date only necessities had been brought over except by the patroons for their own' use. Although the Dutch rule was but of short duration, its influence has been strong. Dutch customs and styles have persisted even to the present day, giving modifications of designs which are easily recognized. These colonists were rich in household goods, mostly imported in exchange for furs and raw material which were exported.

The Pennsylvania colony was founded at a later date, 1683, and was composed of emigrants, most of whom were prosperous, and from the beginning the colony had most of the luxury to which they had been accustomed at home. Many artisans were brought over, and much of the finer furniture found in this country came from that colony, much of it being made there.

The Virginia colony was largely made up of gentlemen adventurers and settlers, and always kept in close touch with the mother country, exchanging household articles for tobacco and other products.

It will thus be seen that in all probability the early furniture of this country was either brought over or imported by the settlers, but in no large quantities. Later, as more pieces were needed, they were made after the pattern with which the people were familiar, and at the time Charles II came to the throne most of the furniture used in this country was being made here. The colonial newspapers are full of advertisements of every sort of manufactured article imported from London. The list includes nails and brasses, all kinds of hardware, stuffs of all sorts, china utensils and tools, looking-glasses, and hard wood, but very little furniture is mentioned, and this condition continued to the Revolutionary War, although as late as 1765 the newspapers throughout the colonies were urging people to patronize and develop home industries.