Tara Gleason Chicirda
The Furniture of Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1740–1820

American Furniture 2006

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Detail of A Map of the most Inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland with Part of Pensilvania, New Jersey and North Carolina. Black-and-white line engraving with period color. H. 31 3/8", W. 49 1/8". Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, cartographers. Thomas Jefferys, map engraver. London, 1768. (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) Fredericksburg and Falmouth are illustrated on either side of the Rappahannock River.

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Candle stand attributed to James Allan, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1759. Mahogany. H. 48", W. 10" (top). (Courtesy, George Washington’s Mount Vernon; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The gallery of the stand is triple laminated for resilience and strength. This is an urban British detail rarely encountered on colonial American furniture.

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Detail of the carving on the candle stand illustrated in fig. 2. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Detail showing the construction and carving of the base of the candle stand illustrated in fig. 2. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Fire screen, London, England, ca. 1759. Mahogany. H. 57", W. 18 3/4", D. 17 1/8". (Courtesy, George Washington’s Mount Vernon.) The pair of fire screens that George Washington purchased from London cabinetmaker Philip Bell in 1759 cost eight shillings less than the pair of stands Washington bought from James Allan.

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Design for a candle stand illustrated on plate 72 in London Society of Upholsterers, Genteel Household Furniture (London, ca. 1760). (Courtesy, Winterthur Library, Printed Book and Periodical Collection.)

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Designs for candle stands illustrated on plate 122 in Thomas Chippendale, Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (London, 1754). (Courtesy, Winterthur Library, Printed Book and Periodical Collection.) The date on this engraved plate is 1753. 

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Side chair possibly by James Allan, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1765–1775. Black walnut with yellow pine. H. 38 7/16", W. 19 7/8", D. 19 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) 

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Side chair possibly by James Allan, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1765–1780. Cherry with yellow pine. H. 36 3/8", W. 20 1/2", D. 20 3/8". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, gift of Mr. and Mrs. David Peebles in honor of Ronald L. Hurst.) This chair is almost identical to the Magruder family chair not illustrated. The shell at the top of the splat on the Magruder chair is inverted.

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Side chair possibly by James Allan, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1765–1775. Black walnut. H. 35 5/8", W. 20", D. 18 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) 

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Side chair possibly by James Allan, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1770–1775. Mahogany. H. 38 1/2", W. 19 5/8", D. 19 5/8". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, gift of Mrs. A. D. Williams.) The splat is replaced. 

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Side chair possibly by James Allan, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1765–1775. Mahogany with ash. H. 37 5/8", W. 22", D. 16 3/8". (Courtesy, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem Museums & Gardens.)

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Benjamin Bucktrout, armchair, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1766–1777. Mahogany and black walnut. H. 65 1/2", W. 31 1/4", D. 29 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) For more on this chair, see F. Cary Howlett, “Admitted to the Mysteries: The Benjamin Bucktrout Masonic Master’s Chair,” in American Furniture, edited by Luke Beckerdite (Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England for the Chipstone Foundation, 1996), pp. 195–232.

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Armchair attributed to the Anthony Hay Shop, Williamsburg, Virginia, ca. 1765. Mahogany. H. 52 1/2", W. 29 1/2", D. 26 1/4". (Courtesy, Williamsburg Masonic Lodge.) This armchair was probably made for the master of Williamsburg Masonic Lodge No. 6.

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Armchair attributed to Thomas Miller, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1773–1774. Mahogany with walnut and oak. H. 42 1/2", W. 27 1/2", D. 18 7/8". (Courtesy, Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M.; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This armchair was probably made for the master of Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4. The Grand Lodge of Scotland chartered the Fredericksburg lodge.

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Armchair, probably Falmouth, Virginia, 1773–1785. Mahogany and walnut with yellow pine. H. 43", W. 28 3/4", D. 18 7/8". (Courtesy, Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M.; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This armchair was probably made for the Falmouth Masonic lodge.

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Detail of the eye on the crest of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The carving on this armchair is superior to that on the example illustrated in figs. 16 and 19. The eye on the Lodge No. 4 chair is naturalistic with subtle modeling of the eyelids and eyebrow.

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Detail of the back of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Detail of the back of the armchair illustrated in fig. 16. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

    Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4 Record Book, March 3, 1753. (Courtesy, Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M.; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4 Record Book, 1773–1774. (Courtesy, Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M.; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Armchair attributed to Robert Walker, King George County, Virginia, ca. 1749. Mahogany. H. 38 1/2", W. 28 1/2", D. 18". (Courtesy, Mary Washington House of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Detail of the dovetail used to join the left arm and rear stile of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 24
    Figure 24

    Detail of the quarter-round, two-part vertical glue block behind the right front knee of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 25
    Figure 25

    Detail of the chamfering on the splat of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 26
    Figure 26

    Detail of the front seat rail of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The gadrooned molding and knee blocks are attached to the face of the rail. 

  • Figure 27
    Figure 27

    Design for a frieze illustrated in Abraham Swan, The British Architect (London, 1758), pl. 52. (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) This plate first appeared in the 1745 edition.

  • Figure 28
    Figure 28

    Detail of the carved husks on the left arm support of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 29
    Figure 29

    Detail of the shoe of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The flutes represent triglyphs and the rosettes represent metope flowers. 

  • Figure 30
    Figure 30

    Side chair attributed to William Fenton, London, ca. 1768. Mahogany with beech. H. 36 1/8", W. 19 7/8", D. 18 1/4". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 31
    Figure 31

    Stove designed by Abraham Buzaglo, London, 1770. Cast iron. H. 89", W. 35 1/8", D. 21 11/16". (Courtesy, Commonwealth of Virginia; on loan to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 32
    Figure 32

    Thomas Chippendale, armchair, after a design by Robert Adam, London, 1765. Mahogany with unidentified secondary woods. H. 41 3/4", W. 30 3/8", D. 30 3/8". (© V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London, www.vam.ac.uk.) Chippendale made this chair for Sir Lawrence Dundance of London and Aske Hall. Like the Lodge No. 4 armchair, this example has both George II and early neoclassical details.

  • Figure 33
    Figure 33

    Kenmore, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1772–1775. (Courtesy, George Washington’s Fredericksburg Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 34
    Figure 34

    Chimneypiece in the first-floor chamber in Kenmore. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The architectural carving in Kenmore was probably installed near the end of construction in 1774 or 1775.

  • Figure 35
    Figure 35

    Chimneypiece in the Chimneys, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1775–1780. (Courtesy, Eileen’s at the Chimneys; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 36
    Figure 36

    Detail of a five-petal flower on the appliqué of the chimneypiece illustrated in fig. 34. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 37
    Figure 37

    Detail of a five-petal flower and leaf appliqué on the chimneypiece illustrated in fig. 35. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 38
    Figure 38

    Detail of a five-petal flower carved in relief on the front seat rail of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 39
    Figure 39

    Large dining room in Kenmore. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This chimneypiece has neoclassical features not found on other carving in Kenmore.

  • Figure 40
    Figure 40

    Armchair attributed to Thomas Miller, Fredericksburg, Virginia, ca. 1774. Cherry with oak. H. 38 1/2", W. 26 1/2", D. 21 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) 

  • Figure 41
    Figure 41

    Detail of the carved anthemion on the crest rail of a side chair from a set that included the armchair illustrated in fig. 40. (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 42
    Figure 42

    Detail of the carved anthemions and husks on the left truss of the chimneypiece illustrated in fig. 39. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 43
    Figure 43

    Detail of the dovetail used to join the right arm and rear stile of the armchair illustrated in fig. 40. 

  • Figure 44
    Figure 44

    Detail of the two-part vertical glue block reinforcing the left front leg and rail joints of the armchair illustrated in fig. 40. One laminate of the glue block is a replacement.

  • Figure 45
    Figure 45

    Photograph of the Old Lodge Room, Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4, Fredericksburg, Virginia, ca. 1930. (Courtesy, Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M.)

  • Figure 46
    Figure 46

    Side chair attributed to Thomas Miller, Fredericksburg, Virginia, ca. 1774. Mahogany with oak. H. 37 1/2", W. 21 1/2", D. 19 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) 

  • Figure 47
    Figure 47

    Side chair attributed to Thomas Miller, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1769–1774. Black walnut. H. 37 1/2", W. 21 1/4", D. 19 1/4". (Courtesy, Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center, gift of Genevieve Rowe Hunter; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 48
    Figure 48

    Armchair attributed to Thomas Miller, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1769–1774. Mahogany with oak. H. 39 1/2", W. 26 1/2", D. 17 7/8". (Courtesy, Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M.; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 49
    Figure 49

    Tall clock case attributed to James Allan with movement by Thomas Walker, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1765–1785. Mahogany with yellow pine, tulip poplar, oak, and cherry. H. 106 1/4", W. 22", D. 10 1/2". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, M. and M. Karolik Collection,© 2006 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.) Carved pagodas like the example on the hood of this clock occur in the same context on British cases as well as those made west of Fredericksburg. 

  • Figure 50
    Figure 50

    Tall clock case attributed to James Allan with movement by Thomas Walker, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1765–1785. Black walnut with yellow pine. H. 97 1/4", W. 21 1/4", D. 9 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, gift of Jane C. Lanham and Shirley Lanham McCrary.)

  • Figure 51
    Figure 51

    Tall clock case attributed to James Allan with movement by Thomas Walker, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1765–1785. Walnut with yellow pine and oak. H. 96 1/2", W. 20 7/8", D. 10 3/8". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, gift of Elizabeth M. Nicholson).

  • Figure 52
    Figure 52

    Sketch of a tall case clock in the account book of Robert Cockburn, Falmouth and Orange County, Virginia, 1767–1777. (Courtesy, Winterthur Library, Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera.) 

  • Figure 53
    Figure 53

    Tall clock case attributed to Robert Walker, Fredericksburg, Virginia, with movement by Goldsmith Chandlee, Winchester, Virginia, 1809–1811. Cherry, cherry veneer, and lightwood inlay with walnut and tulip poplar. H. 98 1/2", W. 27 7/8", D. 10 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem Museums & Gardens). This clock descended in the Booth family of Westmoreland County, Virginia. 

  • Figure 54
    Figure 54

    Side chair, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1805–1815. Mahogany with ash and yellow pine. H. 36 1/2", W. 21 1/4", D. 18". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.) 

  • Figure 55
    Figure 55

    Side chair, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1800–1815. Mahogany with black walnut and soft maple. H. 34 1/8", W. 19 1/2", D. 17 1/4". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 56
    Figure 56

    Armchair stamped “J. Beck,” Fredericksburg, Virginia, ca. 1805. Tulip poplar, hickory, and birch. H. 36", W. 20 3/4", D. 17 1/4". (Private collection; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem Museums & Gardens.)

  • Figure 57
    Figure 57

    Lap desk attributed to James Beck, Fredericksburg, Virginia, ca. 1806. Mahogany with tulip poplar. H. 9", W. 15", D. 16". (Private collection; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem Museums & Gardens.)