The Hartford case furniture survey:
Connecticut Valley Furniture
by Eliphalet Chapin and his Contemporaries, 1750-1800
By Randall Decoteau
There have been three major exhibitions of Connecticut furniture over
the past century. The first was the 1935 Tercentenary Exhibit. There
followed in 1967 the Wadsworth Athenaeum’s Connecticut Furniture
of the 17th and 18th Centuries, and in 1985 The Great River: Art and
Material Culture of the Connecticut River Valley also at the Wadsworth.
The scholarship for each of these ground-breaking shows built upon that
of the previous exhibition to establish a more comprehensive picture
of Connecticut furniture and its makers.
According to Susan P. Schoelwer, Director of Museum Collections at the
Connecticut Historical Society, there is no such thing as a single identifiable
style for Connecticut furniture. However, we can see certain strains
that are identifiable as coming from specific workshops. “What
has been lacking is an overall framework for understanding how those
clusters relate to each other, and how they developed historically,”
she stated.
For the collector, there has always been confusion. It has been hard
for scholars to put the puzzle pieces together. This exhibition establishes
a framework for identifying Connecticut River Valley furniture more
clearly than scholars have previously been able to.
The Hartford Case Furniture Survey
The landmark exhibition is based on an intensive fifteen-year furniture
project titled The Hartford Case Furniture Survey. Conducted by independent
furniture scholars, Alice K. Kugelman, Thomas P. Kugelman, and furniture
consultant and restorer Robert Lionetti, the survey’s exhaustive
field study of furniture from one specific region is unprecedented.
The three ultimately reviewed hundreds of pieces of furniture, creating
data sheets for about five hundred examples of case furniture, high
chests, dressing tables, bureaus, chest-on-chests, desks, and desks
with bookcases.
Every major museum collection was covered along with less known smaller
public and private collections. Auction houses were routinely visited,
the whole resulting in the creation of a huge research base with over
eight thousand field photos and vast amounts of data surpassing any
previous research. Nearly two hundred pieces have been selected for
Connecticut Valley Furniture by Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries,
1750-1800, a lavishly illustrated book published by the Connecticut
Historical Society Museum. The book by Kugelman and Kugelman with Lionetti,
includes essays by Susan P. Schoelwer, Robert F. Trent, and Philip D.
Zimmerman, with a foreword by Patricia E. Kane. This will be the most
definitive reference on the subject to date.
Four Major Centers for Production
This enormous amount of research has allowed the team to cluster furniture
into groups. Once put together, they were able to link furniture with
various characteristics to specific towns, and when lucky to specific
craftsmen and workshops. The book identifies four major centers in the
Connecticut Valley: Wethersfield, East Windsor, Colchester, and the
Springfield/Northampton region of Western Massachusetts.
“In the exhibition, we chose to focus on specific Connecticut regions
because of space limitations,” commented Schoelwer. The show opens
with the Wethersfield style, the earliest of the three. It begins roughly
in the 1740s, essentially in the Queen Ann taste, but was produced well
into the 1790s. Some of this later furniture, if looked at stylistically,
could be pegged maybe three or four decades earlier. The style is characterized
by proportion and form rather than surface ornamentation. It is both
austere and spare, both graceful and simple. The heavy case pieces can
seem very light because the cabriole legs tend to be long and slender.
This furniture has a very high center of gravity, making it appear light
despite its form.
Wethersfield style furniture was produced by cabinetmakers up and down
the valley. “We believe the style originated with William Manley,”
said Schoelwer. “He moved to Wethersfield around 1730, bringing
with him a coastal influence.” In this category, scholars are not
able to trace the style to specific cabinetmakers as much as they would
like.
Eliphalet Chapin and the East Windsor Style
Eliphalet Chapin is clearly the originator of the East Windsor style.
We know that he was named in a paternity suit, which is not only the
juicy part of the narrative, but historically important. He fled to
Philadelphia, and upon his return in April of 1771, he brought back
new designs and construction techniques clearly inspired by the Philadelphia
Chippendale, yet remarkably a more streamlined version. A good look
at one of Chapin’s chairs indicates immediately that he uses Pennsylvania
construction techniques.
East Windsor style is quite different from that of the Wethersfield
makers. Here the visitor can see a lower center of gravity in terms
of proportion. Legs are shorter and more curvilinear. The use of claw
and ball feet rather than pad feet is another trait. Instead of a bonnet
top, Chapin also used a scroll pediment, which is really a false pediment
with a simple flat top behind it. His pierced pediments have a latticework
design with little curling scrolls at the top points that remind one
of small cabbage leaves. The maker also used fluted corner columns and
his decorations of center drawers include either a carved shell or applied
vine. The craftsmanship of his interiors is absolutely meticulous. The
inside construction of every piece is precise and very clean.
“The Chapin style became extremely popular, and was widely copied
throughout the region because of his multiple apprentices and journeymen,”
noted Schoelwer. “As these men start their own shops, they pick
up some of Chapin’s design traits, and they spread the style. What
this gives you are characteristics that can be clearly differentiated
between Chapin, Chapin school, and Chapin influence.” The latter
might refer to men who did not actually train under Chapin. This style
remains prominent from about 1770 through about 1800.
Colchester Bridging the Gap
The third distinctive style center in Connecticut is Colchester, which
is southeast of Hartford. This region straddles the gap between the
Connecticut and the Thames Rivers. During the eighteenth century, it
was part of Hartford County, and its social influences were coming out
of the Connecticut Valley during this period. Recognition of Colchester
as being influenced by the Connecticut River Valley is a shift in thinking,
and it is fortunate that the Connecticut Historical Society has an extraordinary
collection of Colchester furniture upon which to draw.
This group is very different from the other two. It is very creative,
very lively, and has lots of surface decoration. It seems that any place
a maker could put carving, he did. The style is strongly influenced
by the Newport makers in this sense. The furniture tends to be heavier
and more massive, and the craftsmen here seemed to particularly like
producing chests on chests and desk bookcases. This style emerges in
the late 1760’s and remains in production into the 1790’s.
Focus on the Sub-Regional Level
There are a number of furniture projects underway at present. But this
one is important for moving its focus beyond major metropolitan areas
like Philadelphia or Boston. Here we see emphasis on the sub-regional
level. “I think this is a ground breaking exhibition,” agreed
Schoelwer. “We can now associate this furniture more with place
and time, enabling us to tell better stories about it.” The Survey
and the related exhibition takes the study of furniture to a new level
with a couple of key ideas that we can take from it: How to look at
this particular furniture, or furniture in general; tools for understanding
rather than evaluating in the good/better/best manner; Examining specific
details of design, construction, and decoration for clues in understanding
and appreciating its origin.
The creators of this landmark show and catalogue hope that the exhibition
will be a starting point rather than an ending point, and that it will
give people confidence to look at early American furniture in general.
Future historians and scholars can use this study as a beginning for
further research.
A Handsomely Mounted Show
The show is handsomely mounted by James Jensen, Head Exhibit Developer.
The two thousand square foot gallery is organized by region, with clusters
of furniture on platforms against walls of varying shades of green.
The rich tones of the wood are in marvelous contrast. Several of the
platforms offer wide plank flooring to suggest how the furniture might
have looked in its home setting. The graphics for each piece offer hints,
which point out design features and construction techniques.
In addition, four videos featuring Leslie and Leigh Keno create an added
dimension. Each video provides depth regarding the various style centers,
and helps to make the content easier and more appealing. The exhibition,
which opened at the Concord Museum, remains there until June 5, 2005.
It opens at the Connecticut Historical Society June 23 through October
30, 2005.
Connecticut Historical Society, One Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT 06105,
(860) 236-5651, www.chs.org
Concord Museum, P.O. Box 146. Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA 01742,
(978) 369-9609, www.concordmuseum.org
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