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Advances in Techniques of Early American Colonial FurnitureThe History of the Origin of the Design Period Known as Early American Colonial Furniture

It must be remembered that from the time of the Conquest until the time of the Tudors, and even later, all important land­owners, kings, nobles, knights and squires, abbots and bishops were in constant movement from castle to castle, from manor to manor. Furniture, hangings, tapestries, bedding and cushions, armour, liveries and clothing, goods and chattels, all and everything except trestle tables and wall benches was packed into chests, packing cases and travelling trunks and slung upon the backs of sumpter mules and pack-horses. People sat upon the chests by day and slept upon them at night.

Throughout the Middle Ages the cofferers were gaining in skill, and sometime between 1400 and 1450 they began to use a really great invention. We do not know by whom or where the use of the PANEL first took place (viii). Most likely it was introduced to England from Flanders or from France, and probably it was accepted slowly, and no one can receive praise for one of the great inventions of all time. All wood construction was affected by the introduction of the panel. With regard to chests, the front and back were the first parts to be framed, then the sides, bottom and lid. The riven oaken slab stiles were exchanged for squared timber, and into these stiles the cross-pieces (rails) were tenoned at top and bottom. So the frame was made by the intelligent use of the mortise-and-tenon joint. The constant use of the word " frame " or " framing" in­dicates its importance. We have mirror and picture frames, door and window frames ; there are frame buildings ; the skeleton con­struction of any wooden object is framing; there are cold frames in the garden, and frames to our umbrellas, etc. Into grooves in the rails and stiles thin boards (panels) were fitted. By allowing room for the panel to expand or contract the old fear of splitting was lost.

In the tracing of the origins of the style known as Early American Colonial Furniture introduction of the mortise-and-tenon joint and of the panel began one of the great revolutions in craft working. ("Tenon" is from " tenant," the present participle of the French verb "tenir" = to hold. The tenon is the holding part of the joint, just as a tenant holds a house or property.) Furniture could now be made more lightly, the old stiff standardized patterns could be exchanged for an infinite variety of new shapes; new methods, such as wood­turning, could be used in furniture-making. New ways of decorating, first the sunken panel, secondly the framework of stiles and rails, and thirdly the edges where the panel met the framework -called "mouldings" - were devised. So it was that " joined" furniture or " joinery" was born. The "joiner" who joined wood by means of joints became quite separate from the "carpenter" who joined wood by nailing or pegging only.

At about the time of the Wars of the Roses there was much trade across the North Sea. Foreign merchants and workmen settled in England. Some were invited by the English sovereigns, some purchased the right to trade, some were refugees from religious persecutions at home. They came from France, from the Low Countries, from Germany. There was a constant passage back­wards and forwards of clergymen to and from Italy. All carried their possessions in boxes, chests and coffers. Coffers of spruce and deal-then very rare woods-came from Danzig, wonderfully carven " Flanders chests " came from the Low Countries, chests of cypress wood came from Italy. New ways of construction were learned by the English " joiner". He began to use the " mitre", first in the corner of the panels and, much later, in the framework (viii. 3). Then the form of panel carving called the " linen-fold" was introduced, most likely from France. This is generally supposed to have been used first in church work and to have represented the cloth or veil that was used on the Altar to cover the chalice. Finally, the true "dovetail" joint came to be used, probably from Italy.

In the tracing of the origins of the style known as Early American Colonial Furniture the time of the Tudors was of great importance in the history of the woodworker. England had peace from civil war. Trade with the Continent increased. A new nobility was created in place of the old that had largely perished during the Wars of the Roses. It was no louger necessary to live in the old comfortless castles. Nobles and wealthy merchants sent their sons abroad, especially to Italy, to finish their education. These returned full of new ideas. Kings, merchants and landowners invited foreign craftsmen to come and build and decorate the new houses they were building. All this rich incoming of new ideas is reflected in the chests that still remained a most important article of furniture. Portraits were carved upon the panels, often in circles or "roundels." Inlay with coloured woods began, first with native woods, such as box, holly, pear wood, etc., and later with ebony, and when Queen Mary married Philip of Spain the Spanish method of decorating with an inlay of bone or ivory and mother-of-pearl was introduced (viii and ix). During the time of the Tudors (the Renaissance) scholars not only began to study diligently Greek and Roman writings, but artists, architects and craftsmen began to study Greek and Roman ways of building and decorating and to use them in their work. Chest fronts were arcaded with the semicircular Roman arch. The acanthus leaf, long lines of fluting, interlacing strap-work, geometrical panels, and much more became common, and the style that we call " Jacobean " began to be used. The English oak had been used so recklessly for all purposes that it was not so easy to obtain, and furniture­makers found a substitute in walnut. This wood could be glued easily, and, moreover, could be sawn into very thin sheets which could be used in a very beautiful form of decoration that came to England from Holland during Charles the Second's reign. The Dutch wood-craftsmen had brought to great perfection the Venetian art of laying thin sheets of coloured or marked wood over the body of an article-this was VENEERING. This art was carried further.

1. A " Mule" Chest with inlay

2. A Chest of Tall Drawers on Legs, with Marquetry Decoration (Seven­teenth Century)