The simplest designs of line and dot inlay on Southeastern Pennsylvania furniture are found on framed, or wainscot, chairs. Several surviving chairs, possibly from the same set, have stringing in the form of a quarter of a circle inlaid in the corners of the back panel. Side chair. Black walnut. Southeastern Pennsylvania. Possibly Philadelphia. Winterthur … Continue reading Stringing Inlay Designs, Part I
Inlay
A Chest-On-Stand in the Rocky Hill Collection
The chest-on-stand formerly in William “Bill” K. du Pont’s collection is, as both Sotheby’s catalogue entry (lot 505) and Pook & Pook’s catalogue entry from October 2013 say, the only example of this form with any sort of inlay. Swirling light-wood stringing terminating in single and clusters of four dots is present on all of the drawer fronts and the top. … Continue reading A Chest-On-Stand in the Rocky Hill Collection
To a “Dott bitt”
The extensive probate inventory of the joiner Charles Plumley (d. 1708, Philadelphia) is well known to furniture historians. A transcription can be found in Benno M. Forman, American Seating Furniture, 1630–1730 [New York: W. W. Norton, 1988], app. 1. He was in the middle of his career when he died and the inventory is a snapshot of a working … Continue reading To a “Dott bitt”
Lines and Dots
A spice box with line and dot inlay sold recently at a local auction. Spice Box sold at Pook and Pook, September 30, 2021 Top of the Spice box in the previous image. Various regions in Southeastern Pennsylvania have traditions of inlaying furniture with a combination of lightwood stringing and round elements. (Often called “berries” … Continue reading Lines and Dots
In Proportion to the Trouble 