N.B. The Museum is closed on the Monday of the Reception: when you attend please enter by the Hoxton Station Entrance.
Members of the Regional Furniture Society and Furniture History Society are invited to a celebratory reception in honour of the 50 years Bill and Gerry Cotton have devoted to Regional Furniture Studies.
Just over 50 years ago, Bill Cotton was drawn to the possibility that country furniture could be defined by regional characteristics influenced by geography, materials, trade, rural customs and traditional ways of life. He and Gerry started collecting chairs with makers’ stamps and brands which they referenced to trade directories, census returns and newspaper archives to establish provenance. And so began a lifetime project to identify the makers and define the regional distinctions of furniture made across the British Isles.
This reception at the Museum of Home will be a moment to reflect on their achievement and acknowledge the significance of the Cotton Chair Collection and Archive they have donated to the museum, and the massive indexes of English regional furniture makers now being added to BIFMO.
There will be short tributes led by Liz Hancock and Simon Swynfen Jervis at 2.30pm.
There is no charge for this event, but you are required to register. Places are limited and will be allocated first come, first served. To register please email your details to: events.rfs@gmail.com
Scottish Furniture, 1500-1914, about to be published by National Museums Scotland is the first comprehensive narrative account of furniture-making in Scotland. In this lecture, the book’s author, Stephen Jackson, will guide us through the evolving landscape of Scottish furniture-making with particular reference to national and regional characteristics.
Based in Edinburgh, Stephen is editor of the Regional Furniture Society’s annual journal. Graduating from Cambridge in 1993, his career with furniture started in London at the Geffrye Museum, now the Museum of the Home. He wrote a MPhil with David Jones at St Andrews before becoming a curator at Middlesex University and then at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He joined National Museums Scotland in 1999 and the new book is the culmination of many years of research during which he travelled extensively to study furniture in the wild.
To attend this on-line talk, please apply to the RFS Events organiser by 15th June at events.rfs@gmail.com. You will then be sent a link shortly before the event.
This visit is an exclusive RFS event, whilst the previously listed Symposium is not.
We will meet for coffee in the café of the Parkinson Building, where Mark Westgarth, Associate Professor in Art History & Museum Studies at the University, will talk to us about the library of mainly British furniture books and manuscripts dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, created by the antiques dealer John Victor Bedford (1941-2019) and gifted to the University of Leeds. Mark is lead curator of the exhibition, which runs until 21 December 2024.
We then travel by public transport to Temple Newsam Museum, which has a cafe for lunching. Adam Toole, Curator of and Furniture and Decorative Art will show us some of the vernacular furniture acquired by Christopher Gilbert, the museum curator and founding member of the RFS who was based at Temple Newsam for his entire working life. The day finishes at 16:30
Cost of the day £10, (refreshments not included) A booking form is available to print from here.
A unique expression of the Arts & Crafts movement .
In 1899 Frank and Florence Dickinson got engaged and began designing their home in leafy Surrey. It was a long engagement since Frank was unprepared to marry until he had built their dream home. He left school at the age of 13 and worked for most of his life as a draftsman for Doultons Pottery in Lambeth. When he met Florence, he was living in crowded accommodation with his family in Paddington. He became a follower of William Morris and John Ruskin and the house was created to reflect their ideals.
Frank studied books on construction and borrowing £300 built Little Holland House himself with the help of his brother and a friend. He went to night school to learn metalwork and furniture making. Florence was a talented embroiderer and seamstress. Virtually everything in the house was made by one or other of them over a period of sixty years. They raised a family at Little Holland House, Frank encouraging his son in furniture making. Their well-crafted pieces show the influence of Charles Voysey. The house remains exactly as it was left on the death of Frank in 1971 and the departure of Florence a year later, when it was bought by Sutton Council and opened to the public.
To join this visit please book on-line: sutton.events.mylibrary.digital or dial Sutton Library: 020 8770 4740. Visits are available for limited numbers at half-hour intervals 11-17:00. Some members are booked for 11:00, so I suggest aiming for a similar time . If you do book please contact Jeremy Bate, events organiser so that he has an idea of who will be visiting.
Little Holland House , 40 Beeches Avenue Carshalton, Surrey. There is free parking on the road and the house is a 5 minute walk from Carshalton Beeches station ( 44 minutes from Victoria )
House of The Binns; image: National Trust for Scotland
A family home founded by Thomas Dalyell about 1612, an Edinburgh merchant who made his fortune at the court of King James VI and I in London. Presented to the National Trust for Scotland in 1947 by Eleanor (Nora) Dalyell, mother of the late MP Tam Dalyell. The family retain the right to live there. Much altered and extended in the 18th and 19th century, the house contains an eclectic mix of furniture and works of art from all eras, including political and military memorabilia, associated with its more colourful owners, including General Tam Dalyell who escaped from the Tower of London and fought alongside Peter the Great’s father in Russia.
Kathleen Dalyell and Helen Knox, NTS Manager will be our hosts whilst David Jones has kindly agreed to guide us through the furniture.
Coffee will be provided on arrival. At the end of the visit a nearby venue for lunch will be suggested (not included in the fee). If you are a member of the National Trust or Scottish National Trust, please remember your membership card. If numbers exceed 12, we may need to progress in two parties.
Linlithgow is easily reached from Glasgow or Edinburgh by train. Members with cars will pick up travellers from the station.
If you wish to join the visit, a cheque for £10 a head, payable to Regional Furniture Society should be posted to : RFS Events Organiser, 2 Grove Cottages, Sutherland Road London W4 2QS together with a list of members and friends attending and a mobile telephone number. Alternatively, make a bank transfer to the RFS sort code 30-94-81 a/c 00882432 quoting reference: ‘Binns’, followed by an email to the events organiser, confirming the names of those attending, mobile number and the date of the bank transfer. Closing date for applications is Monday September 4th.
As members may be aware, a tour of the Southern States of America is planned for October 2024, studying the regional furniture, houses and social context of early settlers, later migrants, farmers and tradespeople, plantation owners and slaves during the 18th and 19th centuries.
We will be guided by Dan Ackerman, Chief Curator and Director of Research at MESDA and RFS American Secretary, whose specialist knowledge in this area is based on many years of academic research and fieldwork.
The tour will be over 11 days from Monday 14 October to Thursday 24 October, with flights to and from Charlotte International airport, and starting at MESDA (Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts) and Old Salem Museum in North Carolina, heading north to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, then east to Colonial Williamsburg and from there south down the coast to Charleston, South Carolina, before returning to MESDA. The tour dates are such that if any of us wanted to stay on for the biennial MESDA furniture seminar, which will be on Friday 25 to Saturday 26 October, it would be simple to do so.
The provisional itinerary is attached below.
We provisionally estimate the cost at £2,500 per person, including flights, accommodation (based on 2 people per room), admissions and insurance etc, but not including lunches and dinners, which will be paid for as we go.
If you are interested in joining the tour, please email events.RFS@gmail.com by 15 September 2023. Those members who have already been in touch about the tour need not respond to this call: you are already on the list.
David Dewing, tour organiser
Provisional Itinerary
Flights from UK to Charlotte International airport, arriving Monday October 14 Tour over 11 days (10 nights) Depart Charlotte International Airport, Thursday October 24 Option to stay Friday and Saturday 25-26 for the biennial MESDA Furniture Seminar
Day 1: Monday October 14
Transfer from Charlotte to MESDA and Old Salem Museums, North Carolina, 84 miles Welcome, introduction and first supper Stay 2 nights MESDA, Monday and Tuesday
Period Room at MESDA (Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts)
Day 2: Tuesday October 15
MESDA and Old Salem Museums, sites and collections Research and Conservation facilities
Miksch House, Old Salem
Day 3: Wednesday October 16
Travel from MESDA to Harrisonburg, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, 215 miles Frontier Culture Museum (Staunton, Virginia) Stay 2 nights, Harrisonburg, Wednesday and Thursday
Day 4: Thursday, October 17
Shenandoah Valley Collections Museum of the Shenandoah Valley Two Winchester-area private collections Jeff and Beverley Evans Collection (Dinner)
Frontier Culture Museum, Staunton, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Day 5: Friday, October 18
Travel from Harrisonburg to Williamsburg, Virginia, 180 miles Monticello en route, home of Robert Jefferson, house, gardens and slave quarters Stay 2 nights, Williamsburg, Friday and Saturday
Monticello, Virginia
Colonial Williamsburg
Day 6: Saturday, October 19
Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg Williamsburg houses and sites Research and conservation facilities
Conservation Workshops Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia
Day 7: Sunday October 20
Travel to from Williamsburg to Edenton, North Carolina, 111 miles Cupola House Private Collections
Stay 1 night, Edenton, Sunday
Cupola House, Edenton, North Carolina
Day 8: Monday October 21
Travel from Edenton to Wilmington, North Carolina, 177 miles Free time in Wilmington Stay 1 night, Wilmington, Monday
Roanoke River Lighthouse, Edenton
Day 9: Tuesday, October 22
Travel from Wilmington to Charleston, South Carolina, 176 miles Drayton Hall plantation house en route Stay 2 nights, Charleston, Tuesday and Wednesday
Drayton Hall, South Carolina
Day 10: Wednesday October 23
Charleston houses and museums
Nathanial Russel House
Charleston Museum
St. Michaels Church
Slave Mart Museum
Edmonton Alston House, Charleston
Nathaniel Russel House
Day 11: Thursday October 24
Return from Charleston to Charlotte airport, 211 miles Optional: Continue to MESDA for the Furniture Seminar, Friday and Saturday October 25-27
Last November Daniel Ackermann very kindly presented his webinar ‘Working wood in the inland American South’. The YouTube version is now available. The index to the talk appears below. There is a maximum character limit within the YouTube index of 5000 characters. A longer version of the index, which additionally includes hyperlinks to items, articles and publications referred to in the talk appears in this post after the YouTube short version.
0:00 Introduction: 0:07 H Vanhorn Carpenter & Joiner; baby needs cradle, dead a coffin & life needs chests/chairs/desks; 1:09 Alexander Spotswood’s VA small part of early America 1:51 Mexican desk/bookcase cf Boston high chest 2:04 Blue Ridge/Appalachians barrier to expansion & provided defence via Shenandoah 4:18 1681 Charles II grants PA to Wm Penn; 4:43 PA crucible thru geography & religious tolerance 5:10 1761 map of diversity of religion: PA settled via grants: later led to migration 6:40 into Shenandoah 6:55 Gt Wagon Rd to Augusta GA, 9:00 multiple cultures together 10:06 Quakers in N Shenandoah Germans/Lutherans in mid & Scots-Irish Presbyterians in S 10:28 1649 Fairfax Grant by Charles II set up Quakers in N 10:58 by early 1730s e.g. Hopewell Friends’ Meeting House 11:35 Quakers English Scots-Irish Welsh w regional furniture traditions 11:48 Luptons moved to Shenandoah to 1700 acres, grist & sawmills; David Lupton (1757-1822) Frederick Cty, VA built $5k house; high chest, corner cupboard, desk/bookcase 13:08 see American Furniture 1997 13:30 also Nick Powers on Quaker furniture makers MESDA jnl 13:42 1795 Lupton High Chest cf 1765-75 Philadelphia Rococo High Chest; Lupton’s Neo-classical adaptation of earlier Rococo form 15:05 Lupton desk/bookcase, see Gusler 1997 16:38 Lupton close-ups 17:02 confluence of Potomac/Shenandoah 17:32 sophisticated mahogany sideboard, Winchester, Frederick Cty VA; 17:58 moving up the Valley, German-speaking families from PA Lutherans who would fight (Quakers wouldn’t) from 1740s 19:08 Fort Egypt in Page Cty VA 19:17 cf Quaker 1740s Ross’s Spring w Fort Egypt 1758 19:42 Mahatango Valley Farm 20:19 Chest, Shenandoah Cty 20:58 Fraktur, J Strickler 1794 cf 21:14 to Hanging Cupboard/Clock by J Spitler, Page Cty VA 21:30 more Spitler work 21:34 Chests & Schrank 1779 w sulphur inlay 22:12 Shenandoah sulphur inlay blanket chest cf 1777 Fraktur decorated w hearts/tulips/urns 22:34 Käge 1788 Chest cf Siron 1793 chest 23:14 Scots-Irish (Ulster Protestants) 23:47 map of Beverley Manor/Irish Track 24:08 J Lewis of Ulster cleaved landlord’s skull in twain 24:56 Irish unkindly described by Chas Wood Mason 25:48 furniture simple solid & conservative; 26:14 Augusta Stone Church 1747 26:25 Jos Ray – PA, Wagon Rd by 1759 in Augusta Cty 27:02 Dressing table Augusta Cty, Ray for Lewis; 27:24 Jos Ray & J Price, Augusta Cty, High Chests 1765 & 1775-95 & Longcase Clocks 27:55 Longcase clocks by Wm Huston (PA then Augusta via Wagon Road) 1775-95 Augusta case by Ray; 28:12 son Jas clockmaker 28:42 Wagon Rd connects to Cumberland Rd/Cumberland Gap 29:18 Chest on chest Ray-Price shop & corner cupboard Moses Crawford 1790-1810 in Knox Cty East TN 29:50 Tracey Parks article re Moses Crawford; 30:12 High chest on frame Thos Pierce, Guilford Cty NC 1785-95 cf one by Virgil Eachus Chester Cty PA 1789 30:47 D Osborne Guilford Cty NC ; 31:18 Frakturs from PA/NC/SC by Ehre Vater Artist 31:35 Painted blanket chests Lebanon Cty PA, Alamance Cty NC, Wythe Cty VA, and Walton Cty GA, 31:47 Blanket chest, Christian Seltzer, Lebanon Cty PA 1796 cf J Huddle, Wythe Cty VA 1825-30 ; 32:19 Convergences of traditions Chest of drawers, Moses Pyle, Chester Cty PA 1746 line & berry cf Jos Wells Alamance Cty NC, sulphur inlay for German client 32:53 Germanic Chair w Cherokee woven seat Walton Cty GA 1790-1820; 33:23 cf Cherokee basket 33:30 Diamond Hill, Jos Vann House, Murray Cty GA Cherokee & Moravian 33:53 Punched tin decoration food safes 34:24 food safe at Colonial Williamsburg w linen 34:36 punched tin safe Green Cty TN 34:51 another with lights inside cf 35:23 example from Wythe Cty VA 35:31 cf Rockbridge Cty VA see Kurt C Russ and Jeffrey S Evans ISBN 9780984462421 35:53 Corner Cupboard Hugh McAdams Washington Cty TN 1808 cf another Sullivan Cty TN 1800-08 & desk/bookcase Wm Campbell Madison Cty KY 1800-10 exuberant inlay 36:14 Amber Clawson article; 36:26 Desk Hugh McAdams Washington Cty TN 1808 cf Wm McClure Green Cty TN 1803-12 36:39 Trans-Appalachian West into Ohio River Valley 37:02 1810 Mason Cty KY Census in Lewisburg. Gerrard Calvert J Foxworthy & P Tuttle. 37:30 Calvert Chest of drawers Mason Cty 1795-1800 cf sugar desk 1800-15 37:47 more than 100 chests 38:31 Calvert/Foxworthy/Tuttle start in Prince Wm Cty, Chesapeake Bay VA, move to Maizeville/Lewisburg. Ohio River joins Mississippi 39:15 Calvert Chest of drawers Mason Cty speaks to New Orleans Armoire 1800-20 Pied de biche foot goes upstream while Anglo-American inlay goes downstream creating new styles 40:31 Backcountry furniture not backwards 40:48 Wm Challen chairs Lexington KY 1825-35 & 1809 advertisement. Think about 41:38 VA SC PA WV on own terms of people/places they came from 42:22 Q&A topics include sulphur inlay, punch-tin, Jeff Evans on vernacular chairs, fluted qtr columns in NW England (Quaker link?), repetition of motifs & possibly artists within Frakturs and painted chests; any link between Dutch painted furniture and US painted?
Longer version of index with hyperlinks to items and publications:
0:00 Introduction: Settlement Culture Migration 0:07 Henry Vanhorn Carpenter & Joiner; the baby needs a cradle, the dead require a coffin and in between there are the chests the chairs and the desks; 0:30 objects are the result of people, place and time: new styles for a new nation 1:09 the Virginia of Alexander Spotswood 1:37 Virginia was small part of early America 1:51 Mexican desk and bookcase contemporaneous to Boston high chest 2:04 Blue Ridge and Appalachians presented a barrier to westwards expansion and provided defence via settlement of Shenandoah Valley 2:56 Expansion westwards to the Fault Lines, then the Blue Ridge Mountains as more land was wanted; also Piedmont and Tidewater regions 4:18 1681 Charles II grants province of Pennsylvania to William Penn; 4:43 Philadelphia becomes crucible and grows through both geography and religious tolerance 5:10 1761 map of Philadelphia shows diversity of religion 5:45 settlement of Pennsylvania initially via grants: later shortage led to waves of migration 6:40 also into the Shenandoah Valley 6:55 The Great Wagon Road went all the way to Augusta Georgia, 9:00 almost a Fertile Crescent and Silk Road in one bringing multiple cultures together 10:06 Quakers in the Northern part of the Shenandoah Valley German speakers and Lutherans further south in the middle and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians further south 10:28 1649 Fairfax Grant by Charles II in exile set up Quakers in Northern part 10:58 by early 1730s early Meeting Houses e.g. Hopewell Friends’ Meeting House 11:35 Quakers were English Scots-Irish Welsh and brought their own regional furniture traditions 11:48 David Lupton’s father and grandfather moved into the Shenandoah Valley and accumulated 1700 acres with grist and sawmills; in 1791 David Lupton (1757-1822) of Apple Pie Ridge, Frederick County, Va built $5k house; high chest, corner cupboard, desk and bookcase two now at Colonial Williamsburg 13:08 American Furniture 1997 https://chipstone.org/article.php/286/American-Furniture-1997/Crossroads-of-Culture:-Eighteenth-Century-Furniture-from-Western-Maryland ; https://chipstone.org/article.php/290/American-Furniture-1997/The-Furniture-of-Winchester,-Virginia ; https://chipstone.org/article.php/317/American-Furniture-1997/Adaptation-and-Reinterpretation:-The-Transfer-of-Furniture-Styles-from-Philadelphia-to-Winchester-to-Tennessee ; 13:30 also on MESDA website Nick Powers article on Quaker furniture makers https://www.mesdajournal.org/2018/friends-in-high-places-quaker-furniture-makers-in-virginias-northern-shenandoah-valley/ ; 13:42 The 1795 Lupton family High Chest compared to a 1765-75 Philadelphia Rococo High Chest; Lupton’s is really a Neo-classical adaptation of the earlier Rococo form 15:05 Lupton desk and bookcase, well-constructed objects – see Gusler 1997 (link above) 16:38 Lupton close-ups 17:02 confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah 17:32 sophisticated sideboard, Winchester, Frederick County VA. in mahogany and rosewood; 17:58 moving up the Valley, German-speaking families from Pennsylvania Lutherans who would fight (Quakers wouldn’t) moving in from 1740s 19:08 Fort Egypt in Page County VA 19:17 compare Quaker 1740s Ross’s Spring with Fort Egypt 1758 19:42 Mahatango Valley Farm 20:19 Chest, Shenandoah County 20:58 Fraktur, Jacob Strickler 1794 compared 21:14 to Hanging Cupboard and Clock by Johannas Spitler of Page County VA 21:30 more examples of Spitler’s work 21:34 Chests and Schrank 1779 with sulphur inlay 22:12 Shenandoah Valley sulphur inlay blanket chest compared alongside a 1777 Fraktur both decorated with hearts and tulips and urns 22:34 Abraham Käge 1788 Chest https://mesda.org/item/collections/blanket-chest/2402/ compared to John Siron 1793 chest https://emuseum.history.org/objects/2723/blanket-chest;jsessionid=93605B048050C3AE4188D12303697B42 ; 23:14 Scotch-Irish (Ulster Protestants) 23:47 settled in Beverley Manor Irish Track 24:08 John Lewis of Ulster who cleaved his landlord’s skull in twain 24:56 Irish described by Charles Wood Mason as ‘rude, ignorant, void of manners education or good breeding, no genteel or polite person among them, a set of the most lowest vilest crude breathing Scotch Irish Presbyterians from the north of Ireland’ 25:48 furniture simple solid and conservative https://mesda.org/item/collections/arm-chair/851/ ; https://emuseum.history.org/objects/35288/armchair-panel-back?ctx=ea89dfba2b39a0a2f4b1befcf13dfa90a97924ca&idx=127 ; 26:14 Augusta Stone Church 1747 26:25 Joseph Ray – Philadelphia, Wagon Road by 1759 in Augusta County 27:02 Dressing table Augusta County by Ray for John Lewis; 27:24 Joseph Ray and John Price, Augusta County, High Chests 1765 and 1775-95 and Longcase Clocks same dates 27:55 Longcase clocks by William Huston (Philadelphia then Augusta via the Wagon Road) 1775-95 Augusta case by Ray; 28:12 son James Huston also a clockmaker 28:42 Wagon Road connects to the Cumberland Road and the Wilderness Trail and Cumberland Gap 29:18 Chest on chest from Ray-Price shop and corner cupboard by Moses Crawford 1790-1810 in Knox County East Tennesee 29:50 C Tracey Parks article about Moses Crawford https://www.mesdajournal.org/2013/moses-crawford-tennessees-earliest-cabinetmaker-revealed/ ; 30:12 High chest on frame Thomas Pierce, Guilford County North Carolina 1785-95 and High chest on frame Virgil Eachus Chester County Pennsylvania 1789 30:47 David Osborne Guilford County North Carolina https://www.mesdajournal.org/2018/friendly-furniture-the-quaker-cabinetmakers-of-guilford-county-north-carolina-1775-1825/ ; 31:18 Frakturs from Pennsylvania and North and South Carolina by the Ehre Vater Artist 31:35 Paint-decorated blanket chests from Lebanon County Pennsylvania, Alamance County North Carolina, Wythe County Virginia, and Walton County Georgia, 31:47 Blanket chest, Christian Seltzer, Lebanon County PA 1796 and one by John Huddle, Wythe County VA 1825-30 ; 32:19 Convergences of traditions Chest of drawers, Moses Pyle, Chester County PA 1746 line and berry and one by Joseph Wells Alamance County North Carolina, sulphur inlay for a German client 32:53 Germanic Chair with Cherokee woven seat Walton County Georgia 1790-1820; 33:23 compare with Cherokee basket 33:30 Diamond Hill, Joseph Vann House, Cherokee Nation now Murray County Georgia Cherokee and Moravian 33:53 Punched tin decorated furniture for food safes 34:24 food safe at Colonial Williamsburg with linen 34:36 punched tin safe again Green County Tennessee 34:51 punched tin safe again Green County Tennessee with lights inside cf 35:23 example from Wythe County Virginia 35:31 one from Rockbridge County Virginia see Opening the Door. Safes of the Shenandoah Valley by Kurt C Russ and Jeffrey S Evans ISBN 9780984462421 Published by Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 2017 35:53 Corner Cupboard Hugh McAdams Washington County Tennessee 1808 cf another Sullivan County Tennessee 1800-08 and desk/bookcase Wm Campbell Madison County Kentucky 1800-10 exuberant inlay 36:14 Amber Clawson article https://www.mesdajournal.org/2016/the-mcadams-family-of-cabinetmakers-and-the-cultural-palette-of-east-tennessees-rope-and-tassel-school-of-furniture/ ; 36:26 Desk Hugh McAdams Washington County Tennessee 1808 cf Wm McClure Green County Tennessee 1803-12 36:39 Trans-Appalachian West into Ohio River Valley 37:02 1810 Mason County Kentucky Census has 3 cabinet makers in Lewisburg. Gerrard Calvert John Foxworthy and Peter Tuttle. 37:30 Calvert Chest of drawers Mason County Kentucky 1795-1800 cf sugar desk 1800-15 37:47 Matt Cox fieldwork has identified more than 100 chests 38:31 Calvert/Foxworthy/Tuttle families start in Prince William County, Chesapeake Bay VA and move to Maizeville Washington and Lewisburg. Ohio River joins Mississippi and influence goes down to Louisiana 39:15 Calvert Chest of drawers Mason County speaks to New Orleans Armoire 1800-20 Pied de biche foot goes upstream while Anglo-American inlay tradition goes downstream creating new styles 40:31 What is Backcountry furniture? Not backwards – more dynamic 40:48 William Challen chairs Lexington Kentucky 1825-35 and his 1809 advertisement 41:10 Good Better Best 41:23
Good Better Best Backcountry not the best way to think about 41:38 VA SC PA WV on their own terms of people places they came from 42:22 Q&A topics include sulphur inlay, , punch-tin, Jeff Evans on vernacular chairs, fluted quarter columns in the north-west of England (any connection with Quakers?), repetition of motifs and possibly artists within Frakturs and painted chests; any link between sugar desks and Dutch grain desks? any link between Dutch painted furniture and US painted?
FURTHER UPDATE 14 March 2023: The Judges’ Lodgings in Lancaster have just announced a special exhibition in the summer. Our visit originally scheduled for 11th May, first deferred to Tuesday 25th July, has now been postponed to Thursday 3 August 2023 so that members may meet the Curator. The extended closing date for applications remains June 1st. A revised booking form is available to download here, or you may wish to amend the green paper form enclosed with the latest newsletter.
The visit includes the recently reopened Judges’ Lodgings Museum with its collection of Gillows furniture. We will also visit Lancaster Priory and take a tour of Lancaster Castle including Joseph Gandy’s spectacular Shire Hall, the courtroom, and the basement cells with nineteeth-century restraining chairs (additional fee) and the the Church of St John the Evangelist, recently reopened by the CCT following restoration from flood damage. £15 not including refreshments.
Regional Furniture Society Spring/Summer 2023 events are now open for booking.
Please apply for these events by 1st March, using the booking forms available to print from this site. Numbers for all events are limited and allocated in order of receipt. This website will be updated when an event becomes fully booked.
Hammersmith Riverside Arts & Crafts: Friday 21st April 2023
A day exploring the riverside between Hammersmith and Chiswick occupied by disciples of William Morris and later residents connected with the decorative arts. Starting around 11:00 at The William Morris Society at his home, Kelmscott House, Hammersmith Mall, followed by a tour of Emery Walker’s riverside home, largely unchanged since his death. We will lunch at a riverside pub or cafe (not included in the fee) continuing along Chiswick Mall to Fullers Brewery, founded in 1845, where we have the option of taking a guided tour ending with a tasting of Fullers ales. £25 for the morning, and £25 for the afternoon brewery tour, not including lunch. Book on this form.
Gillows and Lancaster: now postponed to Thursday 3 August 2023 (originally postponed to Tuesday 25th July 2023 from Thursday 11th May 2023)
A visit to the recently reopened Judges’ Lodgings Museum with its collection of Gillows furniture. We will also visit Lancaster Priory and take a tour of Lancaster Castle including Joseph Gandy’s spectacular Shire Hall, the courtroom, and the basement cells with nineteeth-century restraining chairs (additional fee) and the the Church of St John the Evangelist, recently reopened by the CCT following restoration from flood damage. £15 not including refreshments.
FURTHER UPDATE 14 March 2023: The Judges’ Lodgings in Lancaster have just announced a special exhibition in the summer. Our visit scheduled for 11th May first deferred to Tuesday 25th July, has now been postponed to Thursday 3 August 2023 so that members may meet the Curator. The extended closing date for applications remains June 1st. A revised booking form is available to download here, or you may wish to amend the green paper form enclosed with the latest newsletter.
John Parry’s Collection: Sunday 9th July 2023 (not 5th)
A visit to John Parry’s latest collection of furniture near Wrexham. The visit is timed to enable those travelling from the conference at Bangor to include it in their itinerary. Priority will be given to those attending the conference. No charge to those attending the conference. £10 for others. Book on the Conference booking form.
North Wales Conference, Bangor: Wednesday evening 5th – Sunday morning, 9th July 2023
Provisional programme: Travelling by coach over the three days, we will explore the coastal area around Bangor including Penrhryn Castle with its slate furniture, and Plas Mawr, Conway. Crossing over to Anglesey we will visit a Folk Museum and have been invited to view a private collection of furniture. The third day will take us eastwards to Gwydir Castle, recently reunited with its panelled rooms sold to Randolph Hurst, and visit a number of churches and chapels whose simple exteriors bely lavish interiors with good woodwork. The day will terminate at Plas Newydd, the eccentric home of the ‘Ladies of Llangollen’. Based at Bangor university, accommodation will be in single rooms. The fee includes all meals from Wednesday evening, with the possible exception of one lunch. £595, with a possible later surcharge of no more than £50. Book on the Conference booking form.
RFS Members are invited to an RFS/MESDA joint webinar via Zoom.
Join Daniel Ackermann, chief curator of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, live from the museum’s galleries in North Carolina as he talks about “Backcountry not Backwards: Working Wood in the Inland American South.”
Along America’s Atlantic coast European-born cabinetmakers often hewed close to their training as they competed with British-made imports. However, further inland, cabinetmakers created distinctive regional styles that reflected their diversity and that of their patrons. Often referred to in America as the “Backcountry,” the furniture made in the inland south was far from backwards.
Images (L-R): Chest of Drawers, Workshop of Gerrard Calvert, Mason County, Kentucky. 1795-1800 Cherry, light and dark wood inlays, poplar HOA: 42 3/8”; WOA: 41 ¾”; DOA: 21 3/8” The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem Museums & Gardens MESDA Purchase Fund (5691.1)
Ladder-back Side Chair, Walton County, Georgia. 1790-1820 Maple and split oat HOA: 36”; WOA: 18”; DOA: 14” The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem Museums & Gardens MESDA Purchase Fund (5560)
High Chest of Drawers, Joseph Ray and John Price, Augusta County, Virginia. 1765-1780 Walnut and yellow pine HOA: 90 1/2”; WOA: 44 1/2”; DOA: 24 1/2” Colonial Williamsburg Collection MESDA Purchase Fund (5749)
Members wishing to join the webinar can do so by emailing Jeremy Bate on events.rfs@gmail.com who will send you the Zoom invitation.
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