The link in the last post to the scriptor stamped Edwards Evans/1707 continues to revert back to the CWF opening Online search page. To view the scriptor page type in "escritoire" in the quick search box on the lower left and you will be directed to photos and a description of the scriptor. The uses … Continue reading Colonial Williamsburg Escritoire
Woodworking
A Scriptor Re-discovered
Last month I attended the second session of Working Wood in the 18th Century, Desks: The Write Stuff, in Colonial Williamsburg. This was the 17th annual conference during which the staff of the Anthony Hay Cabinet Shop explore the design and construction of 18th century furniture through their reproduction of the objects, and the demonstration … Continue reading A Scriptor Re-discovered
Put A Bonnet On It
The covered scroll top of a high chest made in Philadelphia c. 1760 that is made as a third component of the chest, and lifts off, allows a rarely seen view of this form of construction. The top section rests on the upper case section. The lower element of the cornice moulding slightly overhangs the … Continue reading Put A Bonnet On It
“I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” T. S. Eliot
I noticed something interesting several years ago when several of us were asked to examine two highly ornamented 18th century Philadelphia tea tables that are similar in overall form, to see if we could determine whether they were made as a pair of tables for a single client or simply two similar tables made by … Continue reading “I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” T. S. Eliot
“Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.”
For nearly a decade the American furniture market has been awash in highly ornamented 18th century Philadelphia tea tables, with newly discovered elaborate tables turning up on the market every few years. I recently examined a table previously unpublished and unknown to the field that is scheduled to be auctioned January 31st. It is very … Continue reading “Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.”
In Proportion to the Trouble 