AMERICAN STYLES
The early colonists came from England to Virginia, New England, and parts of Pennsylvania; from Holland to the Hudson River country and Delaware; and from Germany to parts of Pennsylvania. The little furniture brought with them, as well as the ideas upon which they proceeded to build and furnish their homes in the New World, were representative of the common houses of the small towns and countryside of their native lands. (See fig. 45, see page [212].)
The interest in Early American art is now so widespread, and the sales of Colonial furniture so great, that every salesman should have sound working knowledge of the subject. Many books are available, a few of which are mentioned in the reading list. One of the most useful is A Handbook of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum[12]—a book every furniture store can well afford to own.
THE EARLY COLONIAL PERIOD
The earliest New England houses were solid but simple and primitive. Walls were of whitewashed rough plaster or of wide molded boards, which were used vertically to form partitions; ceilings of wood, with exposed joists resting upon heavy supporting beams; and floors of plank.
Furniture was of Jacobean type, some of it brought from England, but for the most part made here from oak, pine, maple, and other native woods. The forms were few and simple and included cupboards, chests, trestle tables, and chairs of the turned or wainscot types. Most furniture was left unfinished. Later there came the chest of drawers, and chairs of the Cromwellian and Carolean types, often with spiral turned legs and scroll feet, and either caned or with seats and backs upholstered in needlework.
Near the beginning of the eighteenth century the open-construction rooms began to give way to complete interior finish, with paneled walls. The American form of the Windsor chair which reached its highest development at about this time, was mostly of hickory because of the adaptability of that wood for bows and spindles.
Courtesy Merchandise Mart News Bureau.
Figure 14.—Harmony in periods in rugs and furniture is shown by this figured Axminster, accurate reproduction of an old floral hooked rug shown with Early American. The design is red, rust, and green on wood tones, harmonizing with the green of the ivy in the wallpaper pattern, and the rust of the draperies.
THE LATE COLONIAL PERIOD
By 1750 the production of good furniture was well under way, with designs based upon Early Georgian models, and 10 years later, in the period of the strongest Chippendale influence, the fine homes of the Colonies were filled with very distinguished furniture of American design, of which the highboy is a perfect example.
The Adam influence appeared here shortly before the Revolution.
Sheraton and Directoire models were adapted and combined by Duncan Phyfe of New York, who shares with William Savery of Philadelphia the distinction of creating some of the finest American furniture.
THE FEDERAL PERIOD
The work of Duncan Phyfe belongs to this period, and it is supposed that the White House was first furnished by Thomas Jefferson with furniture of that style. Destroyed by the British in 1814, the White House was rebuilt and furnished by James Monroe in 1817 with Empire originals imported from France. This style, as modified in the United States, with its heavy, classic ornament, and gilt mountings, remained dominant until it was replaced by the ungraceful and ugly adaptations of the style of Louis XV which appeared in Victorian England and were copied here.
THE MODERN STYLE (L'ART MODERNE)
"Modern art" is a term used to include aspects of present-day practice which depart widely from traditional or conventional models. It regards period styles as survivals of a past, dead and gone. Avoiding mere prettiness, it seeks dominant simplicity through elimination of ornament on structural forms, and an adaptation of design to function as complete as that revealed by today's motor car or skyscraper. Literally, it is streamlined for comfort and beauty in the modern way.
Broadly speaking there are two modern developments in functional furniture:
1. There is a classic-modern development deeply rooted in tradition but adapted to the needs of today.
2. There is a functional-modern development which, forsaking the past, is giving us a fresh, practical angle in furniture design.
Both developments seek comfort, simplicity, and beauty in all ways.
The simplicity features of functional furniture are triumphs in finish and in structure. Surfaces are flat and smooth without applied ornament. The completed pieces are sharp and vigorous in outline, perfection in finish, with long continuous curves replacing the old sharp angles. In the new metal furniture it is not uncommon to note that the entire frame of a chair, settee, or table has been made from a single length of metal tubing. Grace and lightness are natural attributes of these flowing lines.
This contemporary furniture also achieves a sincerity which marks a new high. Without ornamental features which characterize the classic-modern development it is impossible to hide flaws in workmanship. Construction accordingly is emphasized rather than concealed. There are no "fake antique" effects about this functional furniture. No one is trying to make these materials look like something else. Metal is called metal; maple is maple; and neither, sparkling under a brown graining, pretends to be walnut. Finishing processes continue to be used but they aim at developing the individual grain, color, and texture of each species. The following statement quoted from the April 1940, Bulletin of the National Retail Dry Goods Association, is a forcible expression of this viewpoint:
The majority of consumers interpret such expressions as "all mahogany" or "genuine Honduras mahogany" or "all maple" or "all walnut" literally, i. e., that furniture so described is made wholly of mahogany or maple or walnut according to the wood named. The National Better Business Bureau recommends that such terms be applied only to those articles of furniture in which all the exposed parts are made wholly of the wood named. If the exposed parts are composed of more than one kind of wood such article should be described by the names of the principal woods used, viz, "mahogany and gumwood," "walnut and gumwood," not by such description as "combination mahogany," and "combination walnut." Also it is recommended that furniture employing veneered construction be frankly described in advertising as "veneered."
To achieve the finish and structural beauty of functional furniture the modern craftsman works with various materials. The whole world is bringing to the markets choice cabinet woods to be used in producing hitherto undreamed-of effects. Magnolia, amboyna, bubinga, macassar, satinwood, narra, makore, padouk, and thuya—these are familiar names. Glass—clear, white, and colored—has won acceptance as a structural material. Aluminum, stainless steel, and chromium plate are popular. Cork veneer with its velvety texture and warm coloring is excellent surface finish for wood furniture. Metal frames with veneer tops often are shown in designs suitable for use as kitchen, sunroom, porch, and even living-room furniture. Linoleum tops for tables and desks afford variety in color. Various synthetic products are converted into tops which have been proofed against heat and liquid stains, thus popularizing them for cocktail and coffee tables. Colored lacquers reminiscent of the orient have been appropriately used. Textile designs which are largely depended upon to supply the necessary ornament for rooms, employ the straight lines, acute angles, and whirling curves of the futurists as well as natural forms drawn with little or no attempt to representation. The end is not yet predictable, but there is much to be learned now.