Jonathan Prown
A “Preponderance of Pineapples”: The Problem of Southern Furniture

American Furniture 1997

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Charles Kimmel, The End of the Rebellion in the United States, New York, 1865. Lithograph printed in black and green olive on woven paper. (Courtesy, Library of Congress.)

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    The Rail Candidate, attributed to Louis Maurer and published by Currier & Ives, New York, 1860. Lithograph on woven paper. (Courtesy, Library of Congerss.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    David Hunter Strother, The Horse Camp in Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, 1865. Ink wash on beige paper. (Private collection; photo, Andre Lovinescu.)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Cupboard, Amherst County, Virginia, 1760–1840. Oak. H. 66 1/4", W. 25 1/2", D. 11 1/4". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; photo, Hans Lorenz.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Side chair, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1725–1740. Maple. H. 40 1/2", W. 18", D. 18". (Private collection; photo, Douglas Armsden.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Benjamin Bucktrout, Masonic master’s chair, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1766–1777. Mahogany with walnut; painted and gilded ornament, original leather. H. 65 1/2", W. 31 1/4", D. 29 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; photo, Hans Lorenz.)

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Francis Blackwell Mayer, Independence, Squire Jack Porter, Frostburg, Maryland, 1858. Oil on millboard. (Courtesy, National Museum of Art.)

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    William Sidney Mount, Cider Making, Stony Brook, New York, 1841. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, by exchange, 1996 (66.126) Photograph ©1983 The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Robert Brammer and Augustus A. Von Smith, Oakland House and Race Course, Louisville, Kentucky, 1840. Oil on canvas. (Courtesy,J. B. Speed Art Museum.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Edward Lamson Henry, The Old Westover Mansion, Charles City County, Virginia, 1869. Oil on panel. (Courtesy, Corcoran Gallery of Art.)

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Side table, northeastern North Carolina, 1780–1800. Walnut with yellow pine. H. 29", W. 37 1/4", D. 27". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Advertisement by J. K. Beard of Richmond, Virginia, in Antiques 4, no. 4 (October 1923): 193.

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Bridgman, America, lithograph (hand-colored), ca. 1880, 11 3/4 x 7 13/16 inches. (Courtesy, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.) 1974.45

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Clothespress, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1760–1770. Walnut with yellow pine. H. 56 5/8", W. 49 1/2", D. 23". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; photo, Hans Lorenz.)

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Detail of the paneled back of the clothespress illustrated in fig. 14.

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Chest of drawers, Boston, 1770–1780. Mahogany with white pine. H. 32 1/8", W. 35 3/4", D. 21". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; photo, Hans Lorenz.)

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Detail of the interior construction of the chest illustrated in fig. 16.

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Dressing table, Boston, 1735–1750. Walnut, walnut veneer, and birch with white pine. H. 32 1/4", W. 33 3/8", D. 21 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; photo, Hans Lorenz.)

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    John Selden, clothespress, Norfolk, Virginia, 1775. Mahogany with yellow pine and mahogany. H. 74 1/4", W. 50 1/8", D. 23 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Hans Lorenz.)

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

    Design for a clothespress on plate 129 in the third edition of Thomas Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1762). (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Alexander Spotswood Payne and his brother, John Dandridge Payne, with their Nurse, attributed to the Payne Limner, painted at New Market, Goochland County, Virginia, 1790–1800. Oil on canvas, 56"H x 69"W (©Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Gift of Miss Dorothy Payne. Photo, Linda Loughran)

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Side chair attributed to Thomas Day, Milton, North Carolina, ca. 1850. Mahogany, walnut, rosewood, and mahogany veneer with tulip poplar. H. 35 1/2", W. 17 3/4", D. 16". (Courtesy, North Carolina Museum of History.)

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Chest of drawers, probably Shenandoah County, Virginia, 1794. Walnut with yellow pine. H. 67 3/4", W. 41 1/4", D. 23". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; photo, Hans Lorenz.)