John Widdifield (1673-1720) was an English furnituremaker who immigrated to Philadelphia in first years of the eighteenth century. He was listed in William Macpherson Hornor’s Blue Book: Philadelphia Furniture in the “…astonishing roll comprising nearly one hundred” woodworkers working in in the Delaware Valley between 1682 and 1722. Cathryn McElroy in her Master’s Thesis, Furniture of the Philadelphia Area: … Continue reading John Widdifield, Joiner
Furniture
Red Cedar in Philadelphia
I had a question about the spice box in the last post and why surviving red cedar furniture from the Delaware River Valley is so rare. It's true that there are very few extant objects with red cedar used as a primary wood species made in the Delaware River Valley during the eighteenth century. Juniperus … Continue reading Red Cedar in Philadelphia
A “Dear Little Chest”
Margaret Berwyn Schiffer's collection of furniture and decorative art was auctioned at Pook & Pook, Ltd. on January, 18, 2023. Of particular interest was this spice box made of red cedar with light-wood line inlay on the door, sides, top, and interior drawer fronts. Schiffer owned the spice box when she first illustrated it in … Continue reading A “Dear Little Chest”
To a Fore-Plane
"It is called the Fore Plane because it is used before you come to work either with the Smooth Plane or with the Joynter." Joseph Moxon, The Mechanics Exercises Or The Doctrine Of Handy-Works. 1683-1685 A busy summer, (W.A.R.P. Fellowship all of June and July, publishing an article), turned into a busy fall, (Center for … Continue reading To a Fore-Plane
An Extraordinary Lancaster Clock Case
My most recent article for Incollect magazine on the John Hoff clock and case made in 1768 in the Dietrich American furniture collection is available online and will be out in a print edition shortly. You can see it here: https://www.incollect.com/articles/dietrich-american-foundation-an-extraordinary-lancaster-tall-case-clock Next week after the opening of Overlap, I will write another post about this … Continue reading An Extraordinary Lancaster Clock Case
In Proportion to the Trouble 