Signpost is a free ezine from Bob Dillon Windsor Chairs. It is the mission of this monthly ezine to explore the history and contruction of Windsor chairs as well as other aspects of life in early America. For more information please go to Signpost Info. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE, see below.
Signpost, a free monthly ezine from Bob Dillon Windsor Chairs.
An Ezine from Bob Dillon Windsor Chairs
Issue No. 18 -- November 9, 2001

Contents:

  • News
  • Origins of American Furniture by Jane Campbell-Chambliss
  • Johnny Appleseed by Mark Tully

NEWS:

I recently completed a fan-back arm-chair which included bracing spindles, the first of the sort I have made. I have now added the option to both of my fan-backs (side and arm) and you can check out pricing on Chair Page One or the Price Page. I've also added a photo of the arm-chair.

With this issue we begin a series of articles about the various styles of early, or period, furniture. Most or all of these articles will be guest-written, starting with this month's entry by Jane Campbell-Chambliss, from Campbellauctions.com, which serves as an introduction to the topic.

Next is "Johnny Appleseed," which seems like an appropriate fall subject. This article, by Mark Tully, comes courtesy of the Northwest Territory Alliance, "...an American Revolutionary War reenactment organization located in the American Midwest." They were kind enough to let us use this article, plus another to appear in a future issue.

Finally, at the risk of flaunting my job security, I offer this important fact: Opinion Research Corp. International reports that 8% of white-collar workers say "my chair hurts my butt." Well, I'd better get back to work....

Until next time,

Origins of American Furniture

by Jane Campbell-Chambliss, CAI, AARE, GPPA

When the colonists settled along the eastern seaboard of North America during the 17th century, they brought their European traditions with them. Because their domestic customs reflected this Old World heritage, it is no wonder that the style of the new furniture would reflect the Old World. Settlers arriving from different countries brought with them the training and the styles of their own countries. For example, 17th century New England furniture reflects a strong English influence, while furniture built in New York reflects the taste of the Dutch.

The European influence on American furniture was not unique to the 17th century. Until the end of the 19th century, American furniture styles continued to evolve principally from European sources, a phenomenon that has made American furniture-making a fascinating but occasionally head scratching subject of study.

Before I go any further, a few definitions are in order. Furniture-making is a comprehensive term that can be divided into two categories: cabinetry and joinery. Cabinetmaking was the regulated trade that produced fine furniture. A cabinetmaker generally served an apprenticeship through which he learned to construct and, especially, he had to learn to carve furniture. A fine piece of furniture produced in a good European cabinet shop followed the style established by the reigning monarch; this style eventually reached the colonies.

If you look and compare, for example, Queen Anne English (1702-1714) with Queen Anne American (1725-1755), you will note American was always behind in high style. The Queen Anne style furniture stayed in fashion much longer in the States than on the Continent. That just means we have more Queen Anne pieces in the States. This is due to the fact it was made much longer into the 18th century, lucky us.

Joined and turned furniture tended to be less style conscious. The joiner was not as well trained as a cabinetmaker. He used a draw knife and constructed mortised and tenon joints to pin the furniture together. Another type of craftsman, a turner, was skilled in making parts of furniture on a lathe. While often derivated of high-style furniture, such pieces are sometimes termed Country or Primitive.

Since joiners operated in urban areas as well as rural areas, vernacular is a more accurate term for describing joined or less sophisticated furniture.

The term handmade is used to mean exactly that... furniture created with simple tools. After the first quarter of the 19th century the machine was applied to furniture-making. This was the start of the factory method of production

One additional point I must make: make sure if you are purchasing a piece of period furniture it is just that -- from the period... not "in the style of." Beware that some furniture, for example, that was made at the Potthast Furniture Company in Baltimore, is now becoming antique. However, it is still only Style, not Period. These pieces made at the Potthast factory are excellent examples of a period STYLE.

In the United States a piece becomes an antique after 100 years; in Europe it must have been made prior to the Industrial Revolution, a big difference in date.

European furniture crossed the big pond in several ways. The original colonists constructed native furniture according to their training and ideas they brought with them.

The 17th century furnituremakers used their skills to construct pieces in the medieval and Renaissance forms they remembered. In the 17th and 18th centuries, wealthy settlers imported some European furniture. These pieces were very important; they served as models for the colonial furnituremakers.

Fine cabinetmakers sent over published pattern and design books. These shops and cabinetmakers pictured popular styles of the time. A very popular book from the Chippendale period was "The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker's Director." This book was written by Thomas Chippendale, published first in 1754. Note: Thomas Chippendale never built a piece of furniture, he just designed it and had a period named after him.

As I stated before, regardless of how European styles reached the New World, a certain lag time occurred. What was fashionable in Europe might not appear in America until twenty years later.

This created some confusion in the naming of American styles. Periods in American furniture are further confused because they shift from the names of the English and French Monarchs to names of a designer (Chippendale) to an overall design movement (Classicism).

Regional characteristics strongly influenced style. The European stylistic ideas that arrived on the eastern seaboard were adapted in a slightly different form in each region. You have to remember that regions were somewhat isolated from one another, no CNN or fax machines to show new styles. Another thing was the fact that cabinetmakers came from different parts of Europe, bringing a different flavor to the piece.

By the middle of the 18th century, these characteristics had become so highly evolved that it is possible to distinguish the work of several east coast furniture centers due to the stylistic treatments and/or construction of individual pieces. The styles that were fashionable in the cities eventually filtered down to the rural areas.

When considering the evolution of American furniture, bear these few points in mind.

Style was transmitted to America by craftsmen, actual objects, and pattern books. The names of periods do not necessarily correspond to the historical events, as they seem to infer. Last, American furniture-making centers developed individual interpretations of European styles in accordance with regional characteristics.

Courtesy of Campbellauctions.com

Johnny Appleseed

by Mark Tully

Almost everyone is familiar with the legend of Johnny Appleseed. What some may not know is that he was a real person! The story takes us a little past our period, but it’s an interesting story none-the-less and has some local relevance -- especially to those of you who live in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Johnny Appleseed was born as John Chapman on September 26, 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. It is said that Johnny’s father, Nathaniel Chapman, had fought in the battle at Concord Bridge on April 19, 1775. John had a sister, Elizabeth, and a brother, Nathaniel Jr., who died in infancy 1776. John’s mother, Elizabeth Symond Chapman, succumbed to tuberculosis and died in 1776.

Nathaniel Chapman remarried in 1780, and eventually he and his new wife, Lucy Cooley, had ten children (including John and his sister).

John left home and started his journey westward sometime around 1797. Contrary to legend, "Johnny Appleseed" as John Chapman came to be known did not randomly scatter his apple seeds. He traveled ahead of the early settlers and started nurseries throughout the Midwest. Many of his seeds were purchased from cider mills in Pennsylvania, but as his fame grew people also began saving seeds for him.

The laws of the day required each pioneer family to plant 50 apple trees during their the first year of homesteading. Apples were a practical foodstuff as they were relatively resistant to disease and kept well during the long, tedious trip west. Johnny Appleseed owned several parcels of land throughout the Ohio Valley and started many orchards in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Reports vary as to Johnny’s mode of travel. Some say he travelled only on foot, others say he rode on horseback, and some claim he travelled the riverways in two canoes lashed together to form something like a catamaran.

Even in those early days, grafting was the most common way of propagating apple trees, but Johnny felt that cutting into a tree was cruel, so preferred to plant seeds. He never accepted money for his seeds or seedlings, but would barter for food and clothing as he went. Legend has it that Johnny was commonly attired in an old coffee sack with a tin kettle, his only possession besides his seeds, perched upon his head.

John Chapman has also been credited with spreading several medicinal herbs and plants like dog fennel or Mayweed. Johnny believed this noxious weed helped cure malaria, which it does not, and now it is considered an invasive pest.

Johnny is also credited with spreading day lillies. It is said that the tall orange flowers that grow wild along many Midwestern highways and road sides were distributed by John to the wives of early settlers.

John was a religious man and also spread the word of god. He was a follower of the Church of the New Jerusalem, a church based on the teachings of Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg, and Johnny acted as a missionary of sorts, spreading Christianity in addition to apple seeds. He was well respected by both the Indians and settlers and was often called upon to settle disputes. After the fall of Detroit during the war of 1812, Johnny played a Paul Revere-like role, warning settlers of impending Indian raids and attacks so they could defend themselves or lead their families out of danger’s path.

Johnny Appleseed died on March 18, 1845 in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the age of 74. He was relatively unknown until an 1871 article in Harper’s Weekly appeared and quickly made him a household name. Today the route of his travels from the East and through the Midwest is marked by numerous monuments and historical markers -- and the bright orange day lillies that line the roadways.

Courtesy of the Northwest Territory Alliance

Sources
  1. Campbellauctions.com
  2. Northwest Territory Alliance
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