Philadelphia Made
Top Dealers Tell Us How They Know

David Wheatcroft: Dower Chest
The generosity of wood in the construction of this chest is just one of the features that make it Pennsylvanian. The boards are thick and the deep moldings are held in place by large, clearly visible pegs. The ironwork, too, is far heavier than necessary, and is over-decorated. This overkill in construction points to an origin in southeast Pennsylvania, though some chests in New York state, where there were also German settlements, share this characteristic. Its proportions give it a rounded, heavy look, particularly the relationship of the width to the feet. The shallow feet are a Pennsylvanian-German trait.
The decoration is visually very strong with a lot of silhouetting – the unicorns are entirely black, so are some of the tulips and foliage. There are strong tonal contrasts between darks and lights. The imagery carries very well, it’s not intimated, but is boldly stated. We know other chests by this decorator, but we don’t know who he was. Poplar takes paint particularly well; painting on pine often causes the paint to flake due to the gumminess of the wood. The decorative motifs derive from European country traditions, and from the fraktur, both of which can be traced back to the miniature paintings on medieval manuscripts.
David Wheatcroft Antiques, 26 West Main St, Westborough, MA 01581, (508) 366-1723, david@davidwheatcroft.com, www.davidwheatcroft.com.

Skip Chalfant: Balloon-Seat Side Chair
To my mind, the Philadelphia balloon-seat chair is the most beautiful chair ever made. Nothing else even comes close; no other chair brings all those curves together as gracefully as this. There are construction details, as well as the overall beauty, that mark it as Philadelphia.
Philadelphia chairs rarely have stretchers, and if they do they are flat serpentine, not block and turned as in New England.
The Philadelphian balloon seat has a big square frame, maybe two inches thick. The front legs are doweled right through this board, and the dowel is wedged on top as it often is on Windsor chair legs, but on formal chairs this method is unique to Philadelphia. The dowel is round, which can make some people think it’s fake, but that’s the way they did it in Philadelphia. Running round the top of the seat frame is a small applied lip, again typical of Philadelphia. The slip seat is often made from the same board as the seat frame; on this one, you can see the grain matching perfectly when you flip the seat. The seat rails are “through tenoned” to the rear stiles – their tenons are visible on the back of the stiles. Chapin did this, too, but then he worked in Philadelphia for a few years before moving back to Connecticut.
The back legs flare outwards, and are chamfered oval in section, unlike the squarer New England ones. Above the seat, the stiles show two characteristics that are unique to Philadelphia: first, see that incised line running up their outer edge and around the crest rail; and then, right where they curve inward the most, they are laminated. We don’t know why they did that, they didn’t need to save wood, but they did – and fakers rarely did, so this lamination of the inmost curve of each stile is a mark of authenticity as well. The small volutes on each side of the shell on the crest rail seem to flow out of the incised line, and are another Philadelphia feature. The shells, too, are typical, they have those little “fins” on each side that the best of the Philly shells do.
Now you may find some of these features on Connecticut chairs, but never all of them. These are just the best balloon-seat chairs anywhere.
HL Chalfant Antiques, 1352 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380, (610) 696-1862, info@hlchalfant.com, www.hlchalfant.com.

Wayne Hilt: Pewter Tableware
During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the city of Philadelphia was a thriving center for artisans in every field imaginable. Pewterers, of course, were among them. The common belief that pewter was “poor man’s silver” is erroneous: the very wealthy as well as the common man used pewter. It’s more accurate to say that pewter was a common bond between the classes.
There are certain forms that seem to have been made more frequently in Philadelphia than anywhere else. Among them are creamers and salts. Both of these forms are found with the “double dropped belly” design, a characteristic that seems to be almost exclusively Philadelphian.
Philadelphia pewter creamers are arguably the finest American creamers. Many are unmarked, but some of the best can be attributed to the Philadelphia maker, Parks Boyd. Working in the neoclassical period, Boyd employed some of the latest design features such as beading. His unmarked creamers and salts can be confidently attributed to his shop by the fact that some of the component parts have been found in other forms that bear his touch marks. For example, there is a marked flagon by Parks Boyd that uses a section of the upper portion of the cup of the salt to make a spout.
Pewterers ingeniously used castings from the same mold for many different purposes. If you look closely you can see that the same mold was used to cast the base of both pieces. We can be pretty confident that Boyd made these items because there are other, marked pieces by him that were made from the same molds.
Wayne and Phyllis Hilt, RR1, Haddam Neck, CT 06424-3022, (860) 267-2146, philt@snet.net.

Todd Prickett: Scroll-Top Highboy
The best Philadelphia highboys are just magnificent. There’s a robustness, a muscularity about them that really makes them stand out. Look at those cabriole legs, elegant and robust – typical Philadelphia. These highboys are truly masculine – and that’s what identify them as Philadelphia.
Just look at the wonderful carving, the shell-inside-a-shell on the scroll board: the outer shell is pierced, you can see right through it to the board behind. It’s flanked by those sinuous rococo curves with leaves growing out of them. All this is carved and then applied. The design on the central drawer on the base is carved into the drawer front itself, and then below it, the shell on the apron is applied. Up at the top again, the rosettes on the scrolls are applied, and look at those wonderful finials, flames rising up out of urns, they don’t get much better than that. The acanthus leaves on the legs are carved from the solid, and they go unusually far down toward the ankles, but that’s unique to this piece, not necessarily typical.
There are other Philadelphia features – the drawers for instance: the sides are poplar, but the bottoms are cedar, at least in these early highboys they are. Later on, when cedar was getting thin on the ground, the drawer bottoms were made of poplar. Often, too, you’ll find dustboards between the drawers, not always, but often. Like the English, but very different from New England.
Note, too, that behind this beautiful broken-arch scroll top, there’s no bonnet. You do come across Philadelphia highboys with bonnets, but less often. In New England, it’s the other way round, far more of theirs have bonnets than not.
This is one of those pieces that I’m almost sorry we’ve sold – I wish we still had it to enjoy. Highboys like this don’t come along very often.
C. L. Prickett Antiques, 930 Stony Hill Road, Yardley, (Bucks Co.), PA 19067, (215) 493-4284, info@clprickett.com, www.clprickett.com.

Chris Lane: Aquatint
I love this splendid view of early Philadelphia prosperity. It shows a particularly abundant “harvest” of livestock on the way to market. We are told that it took 100 carts to transport 86,731 pounds of beef, pork, lamb, etc., all of which was sold within 24 hours. The view was drawn from Mathew Carey & Son’s book shop, located at the southeast corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets. The triumphant butchers, wearing the full regalia of their trade, process through the streets cheered on by onlookers romping along beside and hanging out of upper story windows. Faces, movements, clothes, are all rendered in loving detail, as are the facades of the buildings. For the bustling moment it records, as well as the execution, this is one of my favorite early Philadelphia prints.
It was the work of one of the most popular artists of the period. He was John L. Krimmel, a German artist who settled in Philadelphia in 1810, and set about painting portraits, miniatures, and good-natured street and domestic scenes. This engraving was one of his most celebrated works; it was issued in three different editions, of which this is the first, an aquatint by Joseph Yeager.
The Philadelphia Print Shop, 8441 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA, 19118. (215) 242-4750, philaprint@philaprintshop.com, www. philaprintshop.com.

Philip Bradley: Pair of Side Chairs
These chairs are from downtown Philadelphia, simple, but very sophisticated. Immigrant Irish craftsmen had an enormous influence on Philadelphia furniture, particularly earlier in the eighteenth century. The flat wavy stretchers, so typical of Philadelphia, come from there. Notice too, the tongues on the slipper feet, that’s very typical of Philadelphia – there was just a short window when slipper and Spanish feet were used here, primarily from 1730 to 1740. These chairs are early examples of the trapezoidal seat, which overlaps the earlier compass seat for quite a period before taking over as the norm.
The crest rail is very strongly waved in the typical Cupid’s bow form, and there’s a unified, seamless construction that makes the stiles appear to flow into the crest. The unity is accentuated by the scratch molding that runs up the edge of the stile, all around the crest and down the other stile, which emphasizes the cyma curve of the back, a flowing movement in three dimensions that is at once elegant and comfortable. The later, more rococo style of chair discarded this, it needed a simpler curve to display the ornament better.
The organic form of these chairs reflects the anatomy of the human body, there is almost a skeletal quality to them. The anatomy of the chair back and the human back reflect each other. It’s all about form, not decoration, and it’s this anatomical relationship between chair and human that gives the chairs their character and personality.
The rear legs have a flat inside surface to take the stretchers, but their backs are rounded in an ovoid form that becomes truly oval in examples without stretchers. The chair rails are through-tenoned, and we can see the remnants of the English flare kicking out at the bottom of the foot. There are clear roots in England and Ireland, but they’ve evolved into the Philadelphia manner.
We can look at the details of these chairs, many of which are found in other chairs, but it’s the overall beauty of the form that really makes them Philadelphian, it’s the way the details come together rather than the details themselves. In general, Philadelphia furniture emphasizes the robust nature of the form over the decoration.
Philip H. Bradley Co. Antiques, 1101 East Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown, PA 19335, (610) 269-0427,
philipbradleyantiques@verizon.net.

Philip Bradley: Serving Table
This serving table is the precursor to the use of the sideboard in Philadelphia dining rooms. The serpentine front and the fully molded leg with a slight taper are pulled directly out of London, and given a Philadelphian accent. The top is made from a single, magnificent board of mahogany, and overhangs a full two inches, certainly a greater overhang than you’d find in New England and probably greater than in London. Its edge is carved with a series of flowers flanked by leaves, and it has a concave molding beneath it to help it flow smoothly out of the apron. There’s a drawer at each end, which is lined with poplar, with a cedar bottom – very typical. The serpentine front is laminated and the bottom is covered by the base plate whose front edge is gadrooned.
Put together the quality of the mahogany, the crisp carving, the pierced and carved brackets and all the other details, they all come together to create a form that has exceptional proportions, and one that was on the cutting edge of its day. It’s a very rare form.
It is also part of a larger architectural scheme in which symmetry was important. Not only is the table symmetrical in itself, it was probably paired with another identical one placed symmetrically in the room. The room, too, would have had fine carving around the doors, windows and mantle. The table is large, so the room must have been palatial. Architecture and furniture need to be seen in relationship to each other.
Philip H. Bradley Co. Antiques, 1101 East Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown, PA 19335, (610) 269-0427,
philipbradleyantiques@verizon.net.

Greg Kramer: Sgraffito Plate and Jar
Potters in southeast Pennsylvania eagerly took up and developed the German technique of decorating redware that we call sgraffito. Basically it involves laying a cream colored slip of liquid clay over a clay vessel, and then scratching the pattern away to reveal the reddish color underneath. You can get wonderful designs like this using clay only, without having to go to paints, though Hubener often used dashes of green paint to add extra color.
The plate was made by one of the most famous sgraffito potters, George Hubener, whose grandparents had emigrated from Silesia, a part of Germany in 1734. George (1757-1828) apparently apprenticed with nearby potters as he is listed as a potter and tenant in 1787-1788. His sgraffito pottery is generally dated between 1786 and 1792. All his sgraffito ware is wheel-thrown, unlike David Spinner’s which is drape molded. Hubener produced mainly 12 inch and 13 inch deep dishes; although several two-handled, straight-sided sgraffito covered jars do exist. He used all the traditional motifs, particularly double-headed eagles, peacocks and countless tulips. He typically surrounds his plates with rhyming German couplets, and often names the recipient and gives the date. This boldly executed plate literally calls out, “Hubener! Hubener!”
We don’t know who made the jar, but he lived in the same region as Hubener. Sgraffito jars are not at all common, especially ones that still have their original lids, like this one. The decoration may not be as bold as Hubener’s but it has a real charm of its own.
Greg K. Kramer & Co., 27 West Freeman St, Robesonia, PA 19551 (by appt only) (610) 693-3223, greg@gregkramerandco.com, www.gregkramerandco.com.

David Wheatcroft: Windsor Arm Chair
The overall look of the chair is unmistakably Philadelphian. It’s slightly heavier than a New England chair would be, and visually it’s weightier, fuller. Its back curves further around the sitter; the comb is particularly fully curved.
This visual weightiness is characteristic of much Philadelphia furniture, and probably derives from a conglomeration of influences, among which is the German, and, possibly for Windsor chairs, the English (whose Windsors were much heavier than American ones)
It’s got details that are uniquely Philadelphian – the ball feet, sometimes called “goat feet”; the D-shaped seat; the baluster turnings of the arm supports; the carving of the ears that curve around more than on Connecticut comb backs; the strong ball and ring turnings on the stretchers and the swells to accommodate the stretcher joints. Take any one detail, and you may find something similar on a Connecticut chair, but take them all together, and you have a chair that’s Philadelphian through and through. There was a lot of trade along the Atlantic coast between Connecticut and Philadelphia, so you’ll find features in common, but each region maintained its own distinct stylistic differences.
David Wheatcroft Antiques, 26 West Main St, Westborough, MA 01581, (508) 366-1723, david@davidwheatcroft.com, www.davidwheatcroft.com.

Don Herr: Church Pewter
Heyne’s magnificent communion flagons and chalices exemplify the fine craftsmanship and design of Pennsylvania pewterers.
Heyne’s splendid flagons, like this one, show the Germanic elements of flaring base, cherub’s-head feet, and upturned lid and spout, combined with cast hollow English handles. They are glorious examples of the cultural assimilation of styles that often occurred in Pennsylvania. Like his contemporary William Will in Philadelphia, Heyne was a master of interchangeable parts: he used six-inch plates for the bottom of his flagons.
Chalices were among the finest forms created by eighteenth-century American pewterers, and those made by Heyne are particularly cherished by collectors and museums. The boldness of form, strongly knopped stem, and ample cup are Germanic influences that are clearly seen in this stately example. Heyne used sugar bowl lids as the base of his chalices, an ingenious use of interchangeable parts. A few of his chalices have lids. The only marked eighteenth-century lidded chalices of American origin were made by Heyne.
The Herrs, 2363 Henbird Lane, Lancaster, PA 17601, (717) 569-2268, donmherr@aol.com.

Skip Chalfant: Lowboy

Let’s look at the scalloping on the apron, first. Those “spurs” on the left and right of the center, they’re typical Philly. You’ll sometimes see those fluted quarter columns in Connecticut, but they’re more common here. And look at the drawer fronts, they more highly figured than the case, very Philadelphia. Then look at the faceted feet, as we call them, a bit like trifid feet with less pronounced toes. You’ll find them in Philadelphia, and also in Ireland, but hardly anywhere else, particularly when they’re wearing those neat little ankle socks! Pull the drawer out, and you’ll see the bottom is white cedar, another Philadelphia feature – it kept the clothes smelling good, and kept the moths out.
And the incut corners on the top, they’re typically Philly, too. And, of course, you’ve got the shells on the knees, this time without the fins we can see on the balloon-seat chair. I hate to admit it, but sometimes New England did shells better than we did!
HL Chalfant Antiques, 1352 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380, (610) 696-1862, info@hlchalfant.com, www.hlchalfant.com.

Chris Lane: Hand-Colored Engraving
William Birch’s prints of Philadelphia, issued in 1800, are the first series of views of any American city. They give us a unique visual record of Philadelphia at a time when it was the most important and sophisticated city in the western hemisphere. Each print shows a vibrant scene with the buildings providing a stately backdrop for the bustling activity in the streets. They provide us with both a physical picture of the city and a feel for its texture and vitality. Notice the delegation of Native Americans strolling down the street. As Philadelphia was at this time the capital of the United States, such delegations of Indians were a common sight in the city.
The New Lutheran Church was located on the east side of Fourth Street, just north of Arch. It had originally been built in the 1760s, but it burned the day after Christmas, 1794. This print shows the rebuilt structure which stood until 1869.
The Philadelphia Print Shop, 8441 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA, 19118. (215) 242-4750, philaprint@philaprintshop.com, www. philaprintshop.com.

Elizabeth Feld, Hirschl & Adler Galleries:
Work Table
There’s an interesting story behind this glorious little table. It’s one of a small group of tables obviously made by the same hand, though we don’t know who exactly he was. The group was studied by Henry Holley who published the result of his research in 1988. At that time, this table was still unknown. The tables varied in their degree of embellishment, and this is one of the most complex; it’s got more bells and whistles than any of the others. At first glance, it may not look classically Philadelphian, but we know that the group was made there because one of them has a partial label that reads “Philadelphie” – the French name for Philadelphia. So we assume the tables were made by a French immigrant craftsman.
There’s an unusual detail – at the top of each turret, with its ebony top and ivory finial, there’s a gold band. We thought it was leather, but under the microscope it showed up as gilded and embossed paper, much of which had been lost. We put a protective layer over what remained of the original and then made an exact copy which we applied over the protective layer. That way, the original paper is preserved and the original appearance is restored. A private buyer will be able to enjoy it as it is, but if a museum buys it, they’ll be able to uncover the original paper and display it.
What a beautiful little table it is – the combination of bird’s eye and striped maple surrounded by mahogany – it’s a really sexy little piece!
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 21 East 70th St, New York, NY 10021, (212) 535-8810, www.HirschlAndAdler.com.

Thurston Nichols: Windsor Bench
What makes this bench so special that it’s still in its original surface, and what paint it is! It transforms the bench from a utilitarian piece of furniture into a great graphic work of art. The seat is spectacularly painted – sure it’s meant to simulate fancy-grained rosewood, but the painter far surpassed anything a tree could produce. No piece of wood in the world could have this graining – it’s a real eye-dazzler! The flat, long crest rail is painted somewhat more conservatively, but the sweeping curves on the seat are just excellent. The piece has a wonderful whimsical flair!
The form can be found anywhere from Connecticut to Maryland, but this is a very refined example, there’s nothing provincial or primitive about it. Possibly it was made by an English-trained cabinetmaker, but certainly by someone who was in touch with sophisticated taste.
Let’s not forget that the houses of this period were dark, why would you want dark furniture in them? You’d liven it up with some paint, that’s what you’d do.
Thurston Nichols Antiques, (610) 972-4563, tn@ThurstonNichols.com, www.ThurstonNichols.com.