William Beakes’ drawer construction is common to late seventeenth and early eighteenth joiner’s work. The wood species were similarly used by the majority of Delaware River Valley joiners and cabinetmakers. Black walnut was the principle primary wood species used in furniture making in the early eighteenth century, drawer sides were most often of hard pine, … Continue reading William Beakes’ Drawer Making
William Beakes, Joyner, Part II
A chest of drawers by the joiner William Beakes III is signed and dated in white chalk on the interior surface of a side panel. The inscription was written before the chest was assembled. It may even have been written before the panel edges were chamfered to fit into grooves in the stiles and rails … Continue reading William Beakes, Joyner, Part II
William Beakes/Inscriptions
Several of the pencil inscriptions on the chest of drawers made by William Beakes III are faint and have wear associated with drawer bottoms running over drawer dividers. A question about a latin phrase in the last post prompted me to post images of that phrase and one other made with infrared photography. Wood is … Continue reading William Beakes/Inscriptions
William Beakes, Joyner
My article about a chest of drawers made by the joiner William Beakes in 1720 has just been published in the 21st Anniversary/Spring 2021 issue of the magazine Antiques & Fine Art. The chest is owned by the Dietrich American Foundation. In 2013 during the survey of the Foundation's furniture collection, I performed a detailed examination of the … Continue reading William Beakes, Joyner
Sweetgum/Liquidambar Styraciflua
Questions about the use of the wood species sweetgum in eighteenth century Delaware River Valley furniture from the last post reminded me of a high chest that sold at Sotheby’s a decade ago this month. High chest, Delaware River Valley, probably made in Philadelphia 1740-1750. Mahogany, mahogany veneer, sweetgum, Atlantic white cedar, hard pine, brass. … Continue reading Sweetgum/Liquidambar Styraciflua
