In January 2009, Christie’s, New York, sold a small spice box described in their catalogue as a Chippendale Walnut Spice Cabinet, Probably Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1740-1780. Christie’s was not familiar with aspects of design and construction that could be found in work documented to John Head’s shop and missed an opportunity to attribute the spice … Continue reading Dealing with Drawers
Joinery
Boxes in Boxes
John Head and his journeymen and apprentices knew how to make boxes. They made scores and scores of boxes; carcases of chest on chests, high chests and dressing tables, spice boxes, desks, 4-tier chests of drawers, and the drawers they contained. Hundreds of "boxes" were produced by joiners in the Head shop from the end … Continue reading Boxes in Boxes
A Chest-on-Stand
On April 25, 2018 Freeman’s sold a black walnut chest-on-stand with a provenance in the Moon family of Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania. For the third time in a year and a half, Freeman’s, had offered at auction a previously unpublished furniture form made in the Delaware River Valley in the first quarter of the eighteenth … Continue reading A Chest-on-Stand
Daniel Jackson’s Unicorn Rocker
There is presently a rare opportunity to see the work of Daniel Kemper Jackson (October 18, 1938- August 3, 1995) in person. Dan’s Rocking Unicorn is on currently on display at the Moderne Gallery, 111 North Third Street, Philadelphia. A public viewing has not been possible since its creation in 1974. It was a private … Continue reading Daniel Jackson’s Unicorn Rocker
Secondary Wood Species, Part 1
The joiners who immigrated to the Delaware River Valley in the last quarter of the seventeenth and the first quarter of the eighteenth centuries, and the American-born joiners they trained, had a choice of timbers to use for secondary elements in their furniture. In Britain, the hardwood white oak (Quercus alba) and two softwoods, Red … Continue reading Secondary Wood Species, Part 1
In Proportion to the Trouble 