New-York tribune., 1901-12-09
{" OLD COLONIAL.
A BOON FOR COLLECTORS OF FCRNI-
TURE.

IOEE
COLONIAL FURNITyRE IN AMsRd6cA ls6 Roys Hx
Octave. PIP. XIX. aa2. Charles ScFipneFs oo"e
The products Of the cabinet1naker's craft aS
they have figured In the earlier periods OF Amer
ican civilization, seem year by year to gro" III
fascination. not only for collectors pu1 ioi
writer's. Mr.. Lockwood's volume is NOT the IrsI
in the field. We recall. indeed. more thah one
admirable study Of the subject But we kho" io
work which possesses quite the merits OF ef'is
one. It Is at once study and q guloe pooA' O.
volume calculated to interest the general reaoef
and to be- moreover, Of the most pracucai Ser
vice to collectors, whether the latter be well
Injured to the difficulties Of the chase after sooo
examples or be in the first stages or thelr en-
thusiasm. These pages are crananaed Win ta''s'
and the text is fortified with Photographic Illus
trations so happily selected. so numerous ana So
we'll reproduced that the reader is in the pos1toh
of a person who is piloted through museum oy
a peculiarly clear and authoritative exposl'of VI
its contents. Mr.. Lockwood has given laslly'
eractlv the right arrangement to his material
In a brief Introduction he presents the general
Information that is essential to synlpalhe'i'
and intelligent approach to the oetahs VI '
subject He then takes up those detalls III -"
series of chapters, each connneo 10 Speoi
branch of the ca cabinetmaker's work lie deans
first with chests. and then, In the order haIeu'
with chests of drawers. cupboards and SIDE
boards chairs. settles, couches and soIas 'dpie9'
desks and "scrutoirs,' mirrors bedsteaos anu
clocks.
In beginning at the beginning he Is CONFRONTED
bv p difficulty What the chests were ne
says which came TO the American ooioiiies
with the first settlers 1t is now fmposslple 10
say There is occasional mention In the carry
inventories of wainscot chests or great OAK
chests but by far the larger number are re-
corded simply chests, or old chests, ana 'helr
valuation is slight as to lead us TO the COIL
clusfon that they must have been OF very simple |
design" Nevertheless, our author is not whoLy
without resources for the illustration of the |
earliest possessions, in the way of furniture OF
our ancestors. His first reproduction is OF a |
pine ship chest of the first quarter Of the seven
teenth century the one which was brought over |
by Elder Brewster. 1t is nothing mere than q |
box set upon the simplest of supports and bear
ing lid plain the rest of the affair." though,
perhaps the moulding which apparently ran |
around all the edges might be described as |
austerely ornamental" The next chest figured |
here is a far handsomer one, sturdy bit or
English oak, admirably carved. Others are more
or less ornate with raised panelling. But al
though Mr.. Lockwood has to exhibit many a
piece of furniture which proclaims a luxurious
ulty for design IN the craftsman. Elder Brew
ster's bald box is curously prophetic of the
style which was to be preferred throughout the
Golden Age Of furniture in America Our fore
fathers could be luxurious. but even In their
luxury they chose to observe, on the whole. a
certain simplicity Practically all Colonial fur
niture had stability it's first characteristic
and refinement as its second; if. indeed, one can
give precedence 10 either. If there excep-
tions to be noted they do not leave the taste of
the Colonial gentlemen and their wives seriously
impugned. Sometimes, as in the case of chairs
wardrobes and cabinets brought from England
or Holland, they contented with designs
that not simply massive, but, in an unsatis-
factory sense of the term, heavy Yet no mat
ter how cumbrous these pieces NAV have been |
no matter how crude tie carving upon them, |
they never vulgar.
The least graceful article of furniture in those
days possessed dignity, and, a matter of fact |
the ungraceful designs We're never in the ma
jority. It is interesting to observe the contra
dction offered by any collection of Colonial fur-
nture to the popular notion that kind of bleak |
severity rested upon the furnishings Of an early
w-England household. There prevailed in
stead. a quality of pure elegance. That is to
say. that furniture, whether light weighty |
was made, a rule. with refined judgment as |
to ornamentation and line. and with technical !
rectitude that gave to every chair and table a |
positive character. something of the character
which belongs to a work of art. After all, is
there anything III the whole range of furniture
more essentially artistic within its limitations |
than the humble Windsor chair in its various
forms, Of the latter half of the eighteenth CEN
tury? 1t is in its way, as perfect a piece of
furniture as the most exquistely designed chair
that Chippendale or Hepplewhite ever put forth.
Mr.. Lockwood has some wonderfully fine pieces
Of furniture to show US, superbly carved oak |
like the illustrated at page 302:
dainty mantelpieces like the one at page 296
and desks elaborately paneed and decorated
as the which faces page 2l2. But the most |
examples figured in this book are
equally 1ntereStlng-becauSe equally representa-
tive of the tastes of Colonial families AS we |
put down the book retain an impression of |
unvarying distinction, of a habit of mind and
daily living which not all our long years of
social development have improved upon Well |
may the American of to-day cherish the furni-
ture of his forefathers, and give it honorable |
place among the most artistic achievements Of
living designers. Mr.. Lockwood earns our warm
est gratitude in publishing q book which cannot |
help but advance this idea.
DOETpE