VII
CLASSICISM AND THE REPUBLIC
BUT a change in furniture making was ahead, with the influence of Chippendale interrupted and a reaction against the elaborateness of his design setting in. A new note was being sounded, a new idea infusing itself, which meant a breaking away from the rococo, and a turning to classic lines in furniture, as in architecture. The chief exponent of this revival was Robert Adam, one of three brothers working to that end, from 1750 to 1794, at London.
In southern Europe, Adam had been stirred by the remains of classic architecture, and having been thrown there with a group engaged in excavation and study of the ruins below Vesuvius, and particularly inspired by what he saw of the remains of Pompeii, he came back to England to set in motion waves of influence in architecture and furniture felt distinctly in the United States. He was an architect—in fact, architect to the king, after his return to London. He made no furniture, but in planning his houses, he designed furniture entirely in keeping with them, in plan and detail.
His general schemes followed architectural lines and form. He was consistent in the use of scale, and absolutely sensitive to size relation of all elements involved. He made much change in detail, and used many decorations, much of which was done by the best artists of the day. The Adam brothers collaborated with Angelica Kaufman, Pergolessi, Zucchi, and others, and their designs were full of elegance, made up of classical motifs. The three brothers published thirty volumes of designs for architects, and although the Revolutionary War interrupted their influence, it was extended later when Hepplewhite came into vogue.
Hepplewhite's ideas of furniture building came to America following the Revolution, as the country, too, responded at length to the Adam idea. The period of his activity corresponded largely, in time, to that of the administration of George Washington as President of the United States, when the country was again making some advance, and the ideas of luxurious living once more were uppermost. The Hepplewhite name designates a furniture rapidly coming into favor as the new republic got upon its feet.
The Cabinet Makers' London Book of Prices, by Shearer and Hepplewhite, was published in 1788, in England, by Thomas Shearer, a man whose work in furniture is almost unknown in America, but Hepplewhite's name designates a style in furniture popular here. The Cabinet Makers' and Upholsterer's Guide and Repository of Designs for Every Article of Household Furniture, in three editions, appearing successively in 1788-'89-'90, brought out by his wife after his death, served of course, to make him better known. His earliest pieces and his books gained him a wide circle of followers.
The years of influence credited to him extended only from about 1788-1795, but Southern workmen were influenced by the Hepplewhite style as late as 1815, and the bulk of Southern-made furniture is of Hepplewhite style, with the trend of design continuously toward the lighter and more decorative pieces. Much of the influence of Adam is seen in that of Hepplewhite; his designs, as published, often a transition from Adam to the more practical, the Hepplewhite design making a transition from the more refined and delicate classic to something more practical, and easily followed. Hepplewhite, disregarding the Chippendale tradition of design, used the subtle curve, and decorated his furniture, which was oftenest of light wood, with inlay and painting rather than with so much carving, which, it is true, he used often when working in mahogany.
Hundreds of cabinetmakers worked at London, and in 1790 there appeared among them a strange figure, to remain for sixteen years. This was Thomas Sheraton, a man without means, living on a poor street, wearing a worn and threadbare coat, and combining with his piety, as a minister of the Gospel, a genius for conception of beautiful furniture that perhaps has never been excelled. He registered as an author, bookseller, scholar, and preacher. His ideas of design were built largely around those of the Adam brothers, and he was ready to carry forward the classical idea, so much like Adam and at times so like Hepplewhite, that it is difficult to distinguish him from them. But in his designing he improved what he took so freely and made lighter and more decorative pieces, always with an artistic feeling of line and proportion. In 1791 he published The Cabinet Makers and Upholsterer's Drawing Book.
In 1804 he published the Cabinet Makers' and General Artists' Encyclopedia, containing thirty parts, further projecting his ideas of grace in design, and delicacy and refinement in decoration, so that in America, where books were published in imitation of those the master designers had brought out, his name became a household word. Strong influence of the Roman, Tuscan, and Greek was shown in the book. His appeal was to the practical as well as the fastidious, and the charming quality of what he had to offer, was highly satisfactory in its delicacy, strength, and beauty.
Southern craftsmen seized upon his designs, and his motifs, combined with those of Hepplewhite, are reflected widely in their work in their native woods. His influence here meant lighter forms of furniture, and his use of inlaid motifs for decoration became highly popular in this country; light-colored woods, and the use of apple, tulip, satinwood, mahogany and rosewood veneer is remarked. Sheraton pieces, found in the South, depend largely on inlay for ornamentation.
Duncan Phyfe, outstanding American cabinetmaker of New York, employed perhaps one hundred men, and his influence undoubtedly spread throughout the South. Phyfe showed a distinct classic influence, and followed Hepplewhite and Sheraton, with French leanings at times, 1795-1820, until the Empire period reached America. His works came South and were copied by Southerners, and perhaps even by men who had been employed in his own shops. Among others influencing workmen who came South, or who copied their pieces brought there, were Randolph, Savery, and Gostelowe, of Philadelphia, all men of eminence.
The sideboards of Hepplewhite, with the serpentine front, so delighted the heart of the Southern workmen that numerous examples have been found. Sheraton sideboards, showing the round ends, the straight or concave center and turned or reeded legs, are reproduced in much simpler fashion than those designed by the master, but examples have been found of various woods and inlay and veneer that he employed.
Beautiful examples of Hepplewhite beds have been found, reflecting much practice and skill on the part of the craftsman at work. Excellent examples of Hepplewhite and Sheraton beds have been seen in South Carolina, sawed up in such a way as to be used for tables; and one pair of elaborate posts was found painted and doing duty as supports for an otherwise failing porch in Wake County, North Carolina.
The Hepplewhite chair is easily distinguished by the Hepplewhite shield, and is often used in delicate poise in American chairs, although the heart shape, which he likewise used, is often introduced. The Sheraton influence in chairs is abundant, although it is difficult to find examples of first quality, beautifully proportioned and classic in line as they were. The square leg, with arrow-motif back is shown, the square, tapered leg, showing in the South, in many types. The distinguishing mark of his chairs were the straight lines employed, where Hepplewhite delighted in curves. Whether the top rail was curved or straight, Sheraton lifted up the splat and, putting in a connecting slat between the posts, provided a square frame for ornamenting the center as he might desire. Fine textiles were employed for his chair seats, adding immeasurably to their beauty.
Chests, chests of drawers, and cupboards through the South reflect the Hepplewhite influence; cellarets, too, show the inspiration of this master. Many examples of movable corner cupboards in mahogany are found, some of them showing the familiar inlay and tracing of design in wood, as in his chairs. Tambour desks were popular under the influence of both Hepplewhite and Sheraton, and Southern workmen left much behind them that showed ingenuity of craftsmanship in working out their designs. **** With Washington in the presidency, a new note of confidence was sounded, to which, in some cases, the South was slow to respond, due to its ravished condition and the distress occasioned by the inability of the people to collect on government loans made during the war. The bad situation, however, began slowly to mend with the inadequacies of the early federal government, particularly in finance, superseded by something more stable in 1790. Order began to appear out of chaos, and conditions in the South gradually improved.
In rough figures, there were now nearly two million people in the South, and many of the middle class and lesser planters needed more and more furniture, and they needed it badly; but there were other things that they needed more, with prosperity slow in smiling upon them. The wealthy, however, recovered themselves, and importations were again indulged in despite the bitter memories of the war, and the South's active protests against the overweening British influence in the North, and, as Jeffersonians claimed, on the government itself.
Washington's administration had been set up with style, and an amazing degree of elegance and fine living, likewise, among the wealthy in the South, was renewed. New life was apparent through the United States, as the new century dawned upon them. Cities grew, and money became more abundant in the South.
There is slight evidence of any furniture making in Baltimore during the early bitterness of the Revolution, and certainly not until after 1780, when Mr. Chisholm, we are told, took up the task. John Lindsay, just out of London, shortly arrived at Dumfries; and in Charleston, from the story the newspapers have to tell, business seemed largely stagnant. The Baltimore business, however, seemed to have picked up, following 1780, with a steady list of craftsmen there busy as well. Following 1800, when the federal government was removed from Philadelphia to the new Federal City on the Potomac, Baltimore became a shopping center for furniture.
Charleston furniture makers were more slow to recover themselves from the effect of the war, but the need of some of them to make coffins and supply funeral necessities, as had been their custom from early times, made them a necessary adjunct to business, whatever else their condition might have been. The year after Sheraton appeared in London, 1791, in the period generally ascribed to Hepplewhite, we find as announced by the Gazette, that Andrew Gifford, "Just from New York has for sale Mahogany Furniture, Desks, Bookcases, Secretary, Oval Tables, Inlaid Table, Card Table, sideboards, plain and inlaid, Dining Tables in Setts, Pembroke Tables in Setts, Circular Tables, Night Tables, Settees, Sofas, Chairs of best Pattern, an Elegant Clock and Case, Bedsteads, Chest of Drawers, Single Tables in Setts, Bason Stands."
In December, 1790, we find Solomon Smith informing his friends "That he has returned to the Province," and is carrying on the "Upholsterer's Business," selling, at No. 8 Tradd Street, camp beds, and bedsteads with springs and cases, looking-glasses, inlaid tea tables and trays; Wallace and Watts, "Cabinet and Piano Forte makers from London," were carrying on in Meeting Street.
It was at the turn of the century that the business in Charleston began to speak for itself again through the newspapers, directories, and other agencies in any compelling number. Once it was started, there was such a flood of men at work, men of various extraction, as the following list will indicate: Coquereau, Muckenfus, Naser, Horlbeck, Peigne, Rou, Row, Sass, Sigwald, Tamerus, Tennant, Quackenbush, Marlen, Mellichamp, Mellise and hosts of others, whose varied birth undoubtedly influenced the undertaking in which they were engaged, particularly those of French and West Indian extraction.
Richmond came into its own early in the eighties, when the capital was removed there from Williamsburg. Life quickened, particularly following the close of the war. Furniture making discloses itself to us there, as always in Virginia, not as an established business, but the result of private labor. Extended notice of work carried on in Richmond is revealed, and there are names at this time that may be called. The names of Andrew and Robert McKimm appear on one of the labels given in this book, and the name of Robert is listed in the first census of Richmond, as is that of William Pointer, listed in the census of 1782. In 1807 John Alcock advertised in the Enquirer, of Richmond, and again in 1809, informing the public that he was "carrying on his Cabinet Makers' Business in all its branches where he makes all kinds of Mahogany Furniture in the best manner." **** The Empire influence in furniture set in about 1820; and the reign of beauty was over. Much of the best that had been accomplished by way of lightening and giving grace and proportion to furniture was forced out, to make way for the more imposing pieces, impressive mainly on account of their size and heavy carving. Some of the workmanship was exceedingly good, as many of the best masters worked at it everywhere, as the vogue for what was French followed the rise of Napoleon's fortunes.
The spiral twist came in as motif during this period, and was found on legs of furniture and used often on bedposts. Headboards, as a rule, became more elaborate, and with the rooms in Southern houses large, it is not surprising that many of the Empire beds are to be found in the South. The pineapple motif, signifying plenty, was used to such an extent that the Empire period in the South has been often referred to as the Pineapple period.