24
Water Street, Palmer, MA 01069 1-800-432-3505 Fax: 1-413-283-3190
Made in New England
Private Collectors and Dealers Share Some of Their
Treasures with the New England Antiques Journal
Compiled by John Fiske
Powder Horn This powder horn is a document of New England history. Jonathan Hobart, who owned it, was a provincial soldier from Hollis, New Hampshire, who served in the French and Indian War (1756-1763). At the time his horn was made, he was stationed at Fort Number Four, a long-established frontier stockade fort near the Connecticut River, located in what is now Charlestown, New Hampshire. In August of 1757, Fort William Henry on Lake George, New York, was besieged and taken by a French army under General Montcalm. After the surrender, much of the garrison of American provincial soldiers and British regulars was brutally massacred by the angry Indian allies of the French. (This massacre is depicted in the book and movie “Last of the Mohicans”).
The terrible news of the fall of Fort William Henry caused great alarm in New England. In response, Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire immediately ordered 250 troops raised and sent them west to Fort Number Four to await further orders. Jonathan Hobart was one of them.
This powder horn makes a compelling personal statement of how the owner felt at this anxious moment – heading into the unknown dangers of facing a murderous enemy.
It says:
Jonathan Hobart His Horn
Mark’t at No. 4 August 31, 1757
I now At number four Remain
though tis against my will
I Hope I shall no enemy meet
but what I wound or kill Hollis Brodrick, The Antiquarium, 25 Ceres Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801, (603) 427-1690
Two Copper Measures Before goods were packaged or bottled, the job of the excise officer was crucial in ensuring that buyers got what they paid for. Measures for liquids or dry goods had to be inspected and stamped. This large copper grain measure is stamped twice “CM” for the Colony (not Commonwealth) of Massachusetts. This clearly dates the measure as pre-Revolutionary. Confirming this date is the arrow, which is the English mark of accuracy, signifying that the measure had passed inspection. Note also the wonderful dovetailed joint.
The liquid measure is stamped twice with a “B” for Boston, but what is particularly interesting about it is the stamp “CONDEMNED” – this one failed. This is extremely rare, because most condemned measures were sent back to the maker to be melted down and re-made. Perhaps this one went into a home as a useful jug or pitcher. Private Collection
Late Seventeenth-Century
Boston Chairs Towards the end of the seventeenth century, Boston became a major center for the manufacture of chairs. William and Mary chairs like these conformed closely to their English models (large quantities of which were imported). These three show how chair makers could assemble different components to meet each customer’s taste and pocket. The carved and pierced crest rails are very similar, and two customers wanted a simplified variant as the front stretcher, but the third did not, or perhaps, couldn’t afford it. Each buyer wanted a different seat and back: caned, upholstered, or a banister back with rush seat. Upholstery would have been the most expensive, the banister back and rush seat the least. On two, the block and turned legs and stretchers are almost identical, but the turnings on the caned chair differ slightly. The stiles all share the same design, and differ only in height. Plenty of choice for the seventeenth-century shopper! Private Collection
Pocketbook, c. 1790 The first documented needle-worked wallets (or pocketbooks) were dated in the 1740s and they continued in fashion until approximately the end of that century. Most were stitched with silk or worsted crewel yarns on a very finely woven linen canvas ground, and many had the name of the stitcher incorporated into the design along with the date of completion. Sometimes the name of the recipient was chosen instead. The more rare floral and vine designs, such as this one, were generally drawn on a linen canvas ground. Some of the canvases, which were usually imported, had the patterns pre-drawn on them. This pocketbook was stitched in a time-consuming, tiny tent stitch. Most others known were done using an Irish stitch, a cross stitch or the more complicated queen’s stitch. The interior commonly had several gusseted sections with a piece of stiff cardboard as support inside the lining (usually glazed wool or sometimes silk). Most also had a twill tape stitched to the edges and some sort of tape to tie it shut.
A well-executed piece of needlework was a sign of status, as well as a useful accoutrement. Few families were financially equipped to send their girls to an academy to learn such things as needle arts, painting, drawing and music. These accomplishments made her a more marriageable young woman; not only was she from a prosperous family but she had demonstrated the ability to keep a finely decorated home.
There were few banks where valuables could be kept safely, so money and important documents were carried in a man’s purse to keep them out of harm’s way. Women generally kept their sewing instruments and other small valuables in their wallets, waist pockets and reticules.
The wallet pictured was probably made in Rhode Island. It was found accompanied by a small pocket bible published in the late eighteenth century inside which was a hand-colored book plate “Patience Peckham’s Property, No. Kingstown (Rhode Island).” A note inside the wallet states that it was stitched by Lydia Pinkham. The initials “L. P.” are stitched inside the flap in the green silk interior. Michael & Lucinda Seward Antiques, 879 Adams Road, Pittsford, VT 05763 (802) 483-6434, antinfo@sover.net, www.michaelandlucindasewardantiques.com
“Tuckaway” Table, maple,
Eastern Massachusetts, c. 1710
Very few of these narrow, gate-leg tables were made in colonial America. They were particularly useful in the small rooms of Pilgrim century houses because, when they were not needed, they could be tucked away into a small space, hence their (modern) name: the top board of this one is only five and one-half inches wide. This is “a rare survivor in impeccable condition,” as the owner describes it. The opposed baluster and ring turnings on the legs are exceptionally fine, and the maker even managed to get some attractive turnings onto the short stretchers. It has shoe feet, and long tongue and groove joints between the table top and the leaves. Private Collection
Pair of Globes, one terrestrial,
the other celestial James Wilson was a remarkable Vermont farmer. Working in his barn, in his limited spare time, he taught himself cartography and print-making. He was fascinated with making globes. He drew and printed the gores himself, and eventually became successful enough to change his profession from farmer to cartographer, and moved to Albany, New York. He made his first globe in 1810, so the pair shown here, which were made about 1820, were fairly early in his new career. The globes themselves are made of a composition material resembling papier maché, and are 13 inches in diameter, an unusual size. As Paul DeCoste said, “The colors and detail of the drawing, particularly on the celestial one, are truly exuberant.” Wilson was also a good businessman, and presented himself to the government in Washington, promising that he could make a pair of globes for every school in the country. Wilson died in 1835. Paul DeCoste Antiques (by appt.), 162 Middle Street, West Newbury, MA 01985, (978) 363-1420
Dressing Table, Windsor, Connecticut,
c. 1730s, maple with pine secondary
The really distinctive features of this table, Jonathan Trace explained, are the profile of the apron and the square-toed foot supported on a double-banded ball; these identify it as one of no more than half a dozen known from this workshop. Though clearly Queen Anne in form, it retains William and Mary features, such as the double-arch moldings and the high knees on the restrained cabriole legs. Collection of Jonathan and Paige Trace
Rococo Teapot
This rare teapot was made by Eleazer Baker of Ashford, Connecticut, around 1785 (when, as a result of the Boston Tea Party, some New Englanders still thought it was unpatriotic to drink tea!). The form is classic rococo, and there is a band of chased scrolls and foliage around the opening. The lid has a finely cast pineapple finial symbolizing hospitality and plenty. Jonathan Trace Antiques, PO Box 7106, Portsmouth, NH, 03802. (603) 431-1197
Swift, whalebone and whale ivory Swifts were used for winding yarn: when the skein was complete, the swift could be folded inwards like a concertina, thus releasing the wool. This appears to be a very elaborate and very beautiful piece of equipment for a very mundane task. But of course, it was more than merely functional – it was made as a love token by one of the crew of a whaler. Making it not only expressed his love, it also gave him something to do during the long periods when nothing was happening on board. Paul DeCoste joked that he must have been very much in love, or had a lot of time to kill, because this was one of the most elaborate and finely worked swifts he had seen. It was mounted on an octagonal case with four drawers, each with a whale ivory pull and a front inlaid in wax with the design of a wreath. Whale ivory bodkins were housed in holes in the case, and the cup on top of the whole thing was to hold water so that the spinner could keep her fingers damp.
Inside the drawer was a ticket from “Knox County Fair, Maine, 1863” showing that it had been entered in a competition there by “Arthur Spear, Thornton, 1 work box and Swift.” Paul DeCoste Antiques (by appt.), 162 Middle Street, West Newbury, MA 01985, (978) 363-1420
This powder horn is a document of New England history. Jonathan Hobart, who owned it, was a provincial soldier from Hollis, New Hampshire, who served in the French and Indian War (1756-1763). At the time his horn was made, he was stationed at Fort Number Four, a long-established frontier stockade fort near the Connecticut River, located in what is now Charlestown, New Hampshire. In August of 1757, Fort William Henry on Lake George, New York, was besieged and taken by a French army under General Montcalm. After the surrender, much of the garrison of American provincial soldiers and British regulars was brutally massacred by the angry Indian allies of the French. (This massacre is depicted in the book and movie “Last of the Mohicans”). 
Before goods were packaged or bottled, the job of the excise officer was crucial in ensuring that buyers got what they paid for. Measures for liquids or dry goods had to be inspected and stamped. This large copper grain measure is stamped twice “CM” for the Colony (not Commonwealth) of Massachusetts. This clearly dates the measure as pre-Revolutionary. Confirming this date is the arrow, which is the English mark of accuracy, signifying that the measure had passed inspection. Note also the wonderful dovetailed joint.
Towards the end of the seventeenth century, Boston became a major center for the manufacture of chairs. William and Mary chairs like these conformed closely to their English models (large quantities of which were imported). These three show how chair makers could assemble different components to meet each customer’s taste and pocket. The carved and pierced crest rails are very similar, and two customers wanted a simplified variant as the front stretcher, but the third did not, or perhaps, couldn’t afford it. Each buyer wanted a different seat and back: caned, upholstered, or a banister back with rush seat. Upholstery would have been the most expensive, the banister back and rush seat the least. On two, the block and turned legs and stretchers are almost identical, but the turnings on the caned chair differ slightly. The stiles all share the same design, and differ only in height. Plenty of choice for the seventeenth-century shopper!
The first documented needle-worked wallets (or pocketbooks) were dated in the 1740s and they continued in fashion until approximately the end of that century. Most were stitched with silk or worsted crewel yarns on a very finely woven linen canvas ground, and many had the name of the stitcher incorporated into the design along with the date of completion. Sometimes the name of the recipient was chosen instead. The more rare floral and vine designs, such as this one, were generally drawn on a linen canvas ground. Some of the canvases, which were usually imported, had the patterns pre-drawn on them. This pocketbook was stitched in a time-consuming, tiny tent stitch. Most others known were done using an Irish stitch, a cross stitch or the more complicated queen’s stitch. The interior commonly had several gusseted sections with a piece of stiff cardboard as support inside the lining (usually glazed wool or sometimes silk). Most also had a twill tape stitched to the edges and some sort of tape to tie it shut. 
“Tuckaway” Table, maple,
James Wilson was a remarkable Vermont farmer. Working in his barn, in his limited spare time, he taught himself cartography and print-making. He was fascinated with making globes. He drew and printed the gores himself, and eventually became successful enough to change his profession from farmer to cartographer, and moved to Albany, New York. He made his first globe in 1810, so the pair shown here, which were made about 1820, were fairly early in his new career. The globes themselves are made of a composition material resembling papier maché, and are 13 inches in diameter, an unusual size. As Paul DeCoste said, “The colors and detail of the drawing, particularly on the celestial one, are truly exuberant.” Wilson was also a good businessman, and presented himself to the government in Washington, promising that he could make a pair of globes for every school in the country. Wilson died in 1835. 
Dressing Table, Windsor, Connecticut,
Rococo Teapot
Swifts were used for winding yarn: when the skein was complete, the swift could be folded inwards like a concertina, thus releasing the wool. This appears to be a very elaborate and very beautiful piece of equipment for a very mundane task. But of course, it was more than merely functional – it was made as a love token by one of the crew of a whaler. Making it not only expressed his love, it also gave him something to do during the long periods when nothing was happening on board. Paul DeCoste joked that he must have been very much in love, or had a lot of time to kill, because this was one of the most elaborate and finely worked swifts he had seen. It was mounted on an octagonal case with four drawers, each with a whale ivory pull and a front inlaid in wax with the design of a wreath. Whale ivory bodkins were housed in holes in the case, and the cup on top of the whole thing was to hold water so that the spinner could keep her fingers damp.