Colonial Homes and Their FurnishingsNorthend, Mary Harrod
History
Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
Northend, Mary Harrod
Architecture, Colonial; Furniture -- United States
Following close upon the heels of Hepplewhite came Sheraton, the last of
the three great masters in cabinet-work. His designs were delicate, but
strong, and generally his chair backs were firmer than those of
Hepplewhite. When he had exhausted other forms of decoration, he
indulged his fancy for brilliant coloring, mixing it with both inlay and
carving. Later he embellished his work with the white and gold of the
French style, finally employing features of the Napoleonic period,
such as brass mounts and brass inlay. His last seats show the
influence of the Empire type, which came into vogue in the early days of
the nineteenth century, and the curved piece which he brought in about
1800 served as a model for nearly a century, though it was not adorned
with the brass mounts that he had intended.
His greatest glory as a constructor lies in his skillful workmanship and
his excellent choice of woods,--satinwood, tulipwood, rosewood,
applewood, and occasionally mahogany, being his selection; and as a
decorator in the color and arrangement of his marquetry, as well as in
the fact that he never allowed consideration of ornament to affect his
work as a whole.
Among the chairs he fashioned was one that has come to be known in this
country as the Martha Washington chair, from the fact that a specimen of
this type was owned at Mount Vernon. Several excellent examples of his
chairs are found at "Hey Bonnie Hall," in Bristol, Rhode Island, one of
them being the chair in which John Adams is said to have died.
Chairs of all types are found in any number of old-time homes, those in
Salem being as representative as any, for to this old seaport more than
to any other, in proportion, rare furnishings were brought. Many of the
pieces are of historic interest, such as the old-time chair of Flemish
make, brought over in the ship _Angel Gabriel_, which was wrecked off
the coast of Maine; much of its cargo was recovered, including this old
chair, which was later brought to Salem in another ship. Another fine
old specimen is the armchair, for many years the prized possession of
Hawthorne, and an heirloom in his family, which he presented to the
Waters family, in whose possession it now is.
With the passing of Sheraton, Empire models held full sway, and, while
some of these were comfortable and graceful, the majority were massive,
stiff, and extreme in style. Early nineteenth-century chairs
manufactured in America are of this type, some of them of rosewood, some
of mahogany, and some painted, while many are of mahogany veneer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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