American Furniture Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods

494 Pages·2001·68.29 MB·English

by  Joseph Downs

JOSEPH DOWNS
-
AMERICAN
F U R N I T U R E
Queen Anne
and Chippendale Periods
IN THE HENRY FRANCIS DU PONT WINTERTHUR MUSEUM
Foreword by Henry Francis duPont
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY: NEW YORK
1952
COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Allrights reserved-no partof this book maybereproduced in any form
without permission in writing from thepublisher,except by areviewerwho wishestoquotebrief passages
in connection with areview written for inclusion in magazineornewspaper.
PRINTEDINTilEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
FirstPrinting
ENGRAVEDAND PRINTEDBY THEBECK ENGRAVINGCOMPANY, PHILADELPHIA
AMERICAN FURNITURE
. Queen Anne
and Chippendale Periods

FOREWORD
Joseph Downs, who has written this study of the Queen Anne and Chippendale furni
ture at Winterthur, has asked me to tell a little about how I started the collection. I am
happy to contribute my word to this important book.
Aphilosophy of collectingisofnecessityhighlysubjective.Eachindividualwho collects
anything of a serious nature thinks in increasingly creative terms, almost as if his grow
ing collection were a kind of artistic medium. This is true, I think, because a foremost
drive for the collector isa love of his materials. To him these are of such beauty or impor
tance as to cause him to preserve them, by no means for himselfalone,butin order to share
his discoveries. Becausehe believes in what he collects, he wants others to do so,too.
Thesefactors, I realize,were basic to the making ofmy collection. It seemed to me that
early-American arts and crafts had not been given the recognition they deserved. Serious
collectors had for too long focused their attention on Europe and the East, to the exclusion
of this country. I hoped,therefore,that, by preserving under one roof examples of architec
ture, furniture, and widely divergent early-American materials of all kinds, interest in this
field would be stimulatedand that themagnificent contribution ofour pastwould behelped
to come into its own.
My background knowledge of my subject was, at the outset, very limited. All my life,
however, theactualprocess of collecting had attracted me.Minerals,birds'eggs,andstamps
were among my earliest hobbies; and later on, during visits to Europe, I began to gather
furniture, porcelain, and textiles. Repeated trips to manymuseums gave me endless pleasure
as well as trainingin colors andproportion, andseeingmanyFrenchand Englishhouses was
a liberal education in period interiors.
Avisit to Mrs. WatsonWebb's houseinShelburne, Vermont, in 1923gave me,however,
my first introduction to an early-American interior.Amongotherthings,I was fascinated by
the colors of a pine dresser filled with pink Staffordshire plates. Seeing Harry Sleeper's
house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a few days latermade me decide to build an American
house at Southhampton.
One day that autumn I bought a dated chest of drawers and some Philadelphia wood
work in Pennsylvania - my first American antiques. At about the same time I was shown
several houses in and near Chestertown, Maryland, where I bought paneled rooms. I also
found somesimpler rooms with paneledfireplace ends in Massachusetts.
When I had got these different rooms together, I asked an architect, the late John W.
Cross, to draw me plans for a house to incorporate them, keeping the original sizes and
placing of windows and doors of the rooms.
v
When Chestertown House, as I called it, was finished, I equipped it with early furni
ture, some much earlier than the house, which was in the style of about 1770. As my only
acquaintance with American mahogany was with the Empire veneered variety which had
been in the home ofmyfamilyand which I heartily disliked, I decidedwe would not have a
piece of it in Southampton; my furniture there was pine, walnut, fruit, and other native
woods.Theseearly pieces are allnow at Winterthur.
Thefirst auction I attended was in June, 1924, in Connecticut. There I bought my first
iron floorlights and aslant-top desk with manifold later embellishmentswhich by now have
turned a completely different color. Luckily I was not the successful bidderon astraight-leg
wing chairwithcurly maple wings, which at the time I thoughtwas the ultimate!
When Chestertown House was almost finished I hadoccasion to buy another paneled
room from Chestertown. I realized it was too sophisticatedfor the otherroomsin the South
ampton house; sofor the time being I stored it in my barn in Delaware. As time went on, I
developed the planofadding this and other rooms toWinterthur,myfamily home nearWil
mington, in orderto createawing that would show America as it had been. Throughfriends
I learnedofBelle Isle house at Boer,Virginia; the Port Royalhouse near FrankfordJunction,
Pennsylvania; Readbourne in Maryland;andother eighteenth-century houses from which I
was able to acquire much of the original woodwork.
With all of this woodwork on hand, I asked the architect, Albert Ely Ives, to draw
plans; as theroomswereto be keptin their original heightand width, with the windows and
doors as they had been in the old houses, it was quite an undertaking. The rooms were all
of the Chippendale period, and I had some Chinese wallpaper of the same date for the en
trance hall and the sitting room,which was to be the transition between the old house and
the new. Therefore I began collecting Chippendale furniture. This appealed to me for vari
ous reasons. It was sturdy, and suitable for practical use. Also, I was interested in its many
variations,not only within one type,such as Philadelphia chairs, but among the widely dif
fering products of regions showing different influences - Boston, Newport, New York,and
Philadelphia.
After a very short time I felt I must Americanize the rest of the house. Mr. Ives had
moved to Honolulu, and I was fortunate in meeting the late Thomas T. Waterman, who
helped me install seventeenth-century and early and late eighteenth-century rooms, the
court, and Shop Lane.
During the years that I have collected, I have had many satisfactions and only one
regret. The latter is for the things I might have acquired, but allowed to escape me. My
satisfactions are in the contacts I have made with a great number of interesting people, in
mygreaterconsciousness ofthe developmentofour country,and in my immenselyincreased
appreciation of the generations that have preceded us.
Lookingback on it now, I alsoam glad that I havebeen able to preserve insome degree
the evidences ofearlylifeinAmerica,and I am gratified to feel that others too may find my
collection a source of knowledge and inspiration.
H. F. du Pont
VI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many individuals and institutions have given helpful advice and assistance in one way
or another for the completion of this book. For permission to use original documents, the
author is indebted to Herbert O. Brigham, librarian of the Newport Historical Society;
Stephen T. Riley, librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Bart Anderson, of the
Chester County Historical Society; the Staffs of the Library Company of Philadelphia; the
Historical Societyof Pennsylvania; the New Hampshire Historical Society; the Cooper Mu
seum in New York; the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society; the New York
State Library at Albany; the Hall of Records in Manhattan; the Print Department of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Widener Library of Harvard University; and the Con
necticut State Library at Hartford. Specialthanks are due to Mrs. Alfred CoxePrime for the
privilege of having access to transcripts of newspaper advertisements in her possession and
the unrestricted use ofthem; and to Arthur K. McComb for his persistent efforts in securing
copies of original documents. Charles A. MacLellan gave valuable assistance in the identifi
cation of southern woods.
Many members of the Museum Staff have been ready to cooperate at all times. To my
colleague, Charles F. Montgomery,for his suggestions, constant interest, and enthusiasm in
the progressof the book, I am especially grateful, and toMissM. ElinorBetts for her careful
attention todetail inthe finalstages ofits preparation. To Gilbert Askfor his skilland pains
taking care in photographing the furniture, grateful acknowledgment is also made. In the
repairand restoration ofthe furniture before photography, the fine craftsmanship of Arthur
Van Reeth and of Park J. McCann was appreciated.
Cecil Scott, associate editor of The Macmillan Company, was helpful at all times with
advice and constructive criticism for the completion of the book.
To Henry Francis du Pont my sincere thanks are given for the opportunityofstudying
and interpreting this superb collection, and to the Directors of the Henry Francis du Pont
Winterthur Museum for undertaking its publication.
Allof the coloredphotographs were made by Gottscho-SchleisnerexceptPlate I, which
was made by James Ricau.
J.D.
VII

CONTENTS
FOREWORD v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS VII
INTRODUCTION XI
NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION XXXIX
A GROUP OF QUEEN ANNE AND CHIPPENDALE INTERIORS I-X
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE WINTERTHUR COLLECTION
BEDS FIGURES 1-10
CHAIRS 11-164
CHESTS 165-201
CLOCKS 202-209
COUCHES 210-212
DESKS AND BOOKCASES 213-233
FIRE SCREENS 234-241
LOOKING GLASSES 242-268
SOFAS 269-276
STANDS 277-290
STOOLS 291-298
TABLES 299-388
LABELS AND INSCRIPTIONS 389-401
NOTES TO THE PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS
INDEX
IX