American furniture is rare to find because of their rarity and the high price they fetch for the collectors. There is not much difference in their styles, designs and decorations from that of the European one. The difference between the two is that the American used the local woods like apple, cherry, and maple besides the walnut and the mahogany.
Very little American furniture is to be seen outside the United States and the large chunk of English and Continental museums, large and small, show none whatsoever. In few cases, some pieces are found in English homes, whence they may have been brought back by returned settlers, and if offered by auction it is found they fetch high prices in comparison with similar English articles. This kind of higher valuation is justified by the fact that old American furniture is rarer than English, much of it is already in museums in the United States, and there is a plenty of keen collectors to compete for every piece.
In Seventeenth-century American furniture resembles that made in England some fifty years earlier, and this lag in time continued to be present through most of the eighteenth century. Though, by 1800 or so, with improved conditions in the new country and better shipping facilities across the Atlantic, there was very little difference between the interior of a fashionable mansion in New York and one in London. Furthermore as the early settlers in New England were from the British Isles it would be expected that the furniture they made was like that of their homeland as they remembered it. So it was pretty much the case, but local variations occurred very soon. For example, the tall cane-backed Jacobean chair was copied continually in America and remained famous throughout the eighteenth century, but instead of the back being filled with a panel of caning often it was given a series of shaped uprights and became the 'banister-back' chair.
When mahogany became fashionable, English-style straight-fronted kneehole desks and chests were made in Newport, Rhode Island, with what is termed a 'block front; a kind of break-front of serpentine shape, with one or more of the flat 'blocks' carved with a sunray or shell. Such sorts of variations on the designs from London became famous in the locality where they were made, but they did not spread far. The number of districts that had been colonized each had their specialty, but the most notable was certainly the furniture made in Philadelphia. Normally of mid-eighteenth-century English design, these chests, tables, chairs and other pieces were ornamented with carving as well as fretwork in a style that differentiates them clearly from London work.
Later on in the piece, in the first half of the nineteenth century, an American version of Sheraton furniture was very popular. The most popular examples were the work of Duncan Phyfe, who had emigrated from Scotland, and whose name is probably the best known of that of any American cabinet-maker. Born in 1768, he died in 1854.
Keeping aside pieces made in the cities, American collectors eagerly seek old country-made furniture, and there is great interest in Windsor chairs and similar pieces, which resemble closely their European originals. On the other hand, Eighteenth-century German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania made versions of their home furnishing known as 'Pennsylvania German' or 'Pennsylvania Dutch2 mainly in light-colored fruit woods, and these also are very famous in the United States.
Most of the furniture was made in America with the help of local woods: such as apple, cherry, and maple. Moreover Walnut remained in use in some districts long after mahogany had become fashionable elsewhere, and in Pennsylvania it was the principal wood until about 1850. Therefore, one can easily finds a piece of American furniture in a recognizable rendering of the Chippendale style, but instead of being made from mahogany, as would be expected, it is in walnut, or even cherry wood. Number of pieces of furniture is named differently in America from what they are in England. Four of the most crucial are:
Lowboy: Lowboy can be termed as a modern word describing what is called in England a dressing table; a low table fitted with drawers and rose on legs. Highboy: a lowboy with, in addition, a chest of drawers on top.
Bureau: It is termed in England as a chest of drawers: the English bureau or writing desk is known in America as a 'slant-front desk'.
Secretary: It is defined in England as a bureau-bookcase: a sloping-front writing desk with a bookcase above it In addition to Duncan Phyfe, mentioned above, other significant cabinet-makers are: William Savery, of Philadelphia (1721 to 1787). John Townsend and his brother-in-law, John Goddard, of Newport, Rhode Island (both lived about 1730 to 1785). John Cogswell, of Boston (about 1769 to 1818).
More often in the American furniture we find a recognizable rendering of the Chippendale style, but instead of being made from mahogany, as would be expected, it is in walnut, or even cherry wood. And the other point of difference in American and European is their naming styles. The American defined dress table as 'lowboy' a chest of drawers as 'highboy' writing desk as 'slant-front desk', etc.
The American Traditional style of furniture was influenced by English and French styles. With passage of time it evolved into a unique American style. The traditional living room furniture consists of styles such as the clean and simple lines of Shaker furniture, the simplicity of the Mission style and identical styles from artisans in the Southwest and all corners of the country. American traditional style is therefore more or less a blend of number of styles and it takes the best that every different style has to offer.
Very little American furniture is to be seen outside the United States and the large chunk of English and Continental museums, large and small, show none whatsoever. In few cases, some pieces are found in English homes, whence they may have been brought back by returned settlers, and if offered by auction it is found they fetch high prices in comparison with similar English articles. This kind of higher valuation is justified by the fact that old American furniture is rarer than English, much of it is already in museums in the United States, and there is a plenty of keen collectors to compete for every piece.
In Seventeenth-century American furniture resembles that made in England some fifty years earlier, and this lag in time continued to be present through most of the eighteenth century. Though, by 1800 or so, with improved conditions in the new country and better shipping facilities across the Atlantic, there was very little difference between the interior of a fashionable mansion in New York and one in London. Furthermore as the early settlers in New England were from the British Isles it would be expected that the furniture they made was like that of their homeland as they remembered it. So it was pretty much the case, but local variations occurred very soon. For example, the tall cane-backed Jacobean chair was copied continually in America and remained famous throughout the eighteenth century, but instead of the back being filled with a panel of caning often it was given a series of shaped uprights and became the 'banister-back' chair.
When mahogany became fashionable, English-style straight-fronted kneehole desks and chests were made in Newport, Rhode Island, with what is termed a 'block front; a kind of break-front of serpentine shape, with one or more of the flat 'blocks' carved with a sunray or shell. Such sorts of variations on the designs from London became famous in the locality where they were made, but they did not spread far. The number of districts that had been colonized each had their specialty, but the most notable was certainly the furniture made in Philadelphia. Normally of mid-eighteenth-century English design, these chests, tables, chairs and other pieces were ornamented with carving as well as fretwork in a style that differentiates them clearly from London work.
Later on in the piece, in the first half of the nineteenth century, an American version of Sheraton furniture was very popular. The most popular examples were the work of Duncan Phyfe, who had emigrated from Scotland, and whose name is probably the best known of that of any American cabinet-maker. Born in 1768, he died in 1854.
Keeping aside pieces made in the cities, American collectors eagerly seek old country-made furniture, and there is great interest in Windsor chairs and similar pieces, which resemble closely their European originals. On the other hand, Eighteenth-century German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania made versions of their home furnishing known as 'Pennsylvania German' or 'Pennsylvania Dutch2 mainly in light-colored fruit woods, and these also are very famous in the United States.
Most of the furniture was made in America with the help of local woods: such as apple, cherry, and maple. Moreover Walnut remained in use in some districts long after mahogany had become fashionable elsewhere, and in Pennsylvania it was the principal wood until about 1850. Therefore, one can easily finds a piece of American furniture in a recognizable rendering of the Chippendale style, but instead of being made from mahogany, as would be expected, it is in walnut, or even cherry wood. Number of pieces of furniture is named differently in America from what they are in England. Four of the most crucial are:
Lowboy: Lowboy can be termed as a modern word describing what is called in England a dressing table; a low table fitted with drawers and rose on legs. Highboy: a lowboy with, in addition, a chest of drawers on top.
Bureau: It is termed in England as a chest of drawers: the English bureau or writing desk is known in America as a 'slant-front desk'.
Secretary: It is defined in England as a bureau-bookcase: a sloping-front writing desk with a bookcase above it In addition to Duncan Phyfe, mentioned above, other significant cabinet-makers are: William Savery, of Philadelphia (1721 to 1787). John Townsend and his brother-in-law, John Goddard, of Newport, Rhode Island (both lived about 1730 to 1785). John Cogswell, of Boston (about 1769 to 1818).
More often in the American furniture we find a recognizable rendering of the Chippendale style, but instead of being made from mahogany, as would be expected, it is in walnut, or even cherry wood. And the other point of difference in American and European is their naming styles. The American defined dress table as 'lowboy' a chest of drawers as 'highboy' writing desk as 'slant-front desk', etc.
The American Traditional style of furniture was influenced by English and French styles. With passage of time it evolved into a unique American style. The traditional living room furniture consists of styles such as the clean and simple lines of Shaker furniture, the simplicity of the Mission style and identical styles from artisans in the Southwest and all corners of the country. American traditional style is therefore more or less a blend of number of styles and it takes the best that every different style has to offer.
