10 Pieces of Early American Furniture You Should Know

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Pennsylvania Blanket Chest

Eagles abounded in the early Republic. This painted spread-wing example with a patriotic flag shied dresses up an otherwise modest piece of furniture.

Mahantango Creek Valley, Northumberland and Schuylkill Counties, Pennsylvania, 1800-1825. Courtesy of the Winterthur Museum (1957.1105).

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North Carolina Tea Table

Beautifully designed and finely carved, this "pie-crust" table ranks among the best furniture made in the south.

Attributed to Robert Walker, King George County, Virginia, 1760-1780. Courtesy of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Warmath in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Worsham Dew (acc. 3992).

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Campeachy Chair

A Caribbean form adopted by Louisianans and Virginians, campeachy chairs were among the most comfortable seating furniture used in early America. Thomas Jefferson called them Siesta Chairs. This particular example was made by John Hemings, an enslaved cabinetmaker owned by Jefferson. He was Sally Hemings' half-brother.

Attributed to John Hemmings, 1815-1824, Albermarle County, Virginia. Courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., Monticello.

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Boston Commode

In 1809, cabinetmaker Thomas Seymour charged the princely sum of $80 for this knock-out chest-of-drawers. Its expert veneer work, carving, and painted decoration are a testament to the skill of several master craftsmen.

Thomas Seymour, Boston, Massachusetts, 1809. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts (1923.19).

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Fancy Painted Chest

This blanket chest is a rare survivor among American painted furniture. Its bright and exuberantly painted exterior reminds us that the homes of our forefathers were anything but dull.

New England, 1825-1840. Courtesy of the American Folk Art Museum, gift of Jean Lipman in honor of Cyril Irwin Nelson (1994.5.1).

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New Orleans Armoire

When French immigrants settled Louisiana and the lower Mississippi River, they brought with them a taste for traditional French armoires to store their linens n' things. By the turn of the century newly-arrived Anglo cabinetmakers began decorating them with vibrant inlays fashionable in English speaking parts of the country.

New Orleans, Louisiana, 1800-1820. Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, Museum Purchase, The Sara and Fred Hoyt Furniture Fund (2009-67).

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New York Kast

For nearly three centuries Dutch settlers in New York and New Jersey stuffed their worldly possessions into giant cupboards known as Kasten. The exterior of this paneled model features colorful painted decoration.

New York City or Vicinity, New York, 1650-1700. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Millia Davenport, 1988 (1988.21).

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Connecticut Desk-and-Bookcase

Made just outside of the Heartbeat, this high style case piece is dripping with deeply carved shells and floral decoration. It separates into three pieces: bookcase, desk, and base frame.

Probably Middletown, Connecticut, 1765-1780. Courtesy of the Henry Ford (57.76.1).

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The Brewster Chair

This battered relic descended through several generations of the Brewster Family before it was donated to Pilgrim Hall Museum in the 1830s. It is thought to have originally belonged to elder John Brewster, spiritual leader of Plymouth Colony.

Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1630-1670. Courtesy of Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA.

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Kentucky Chest

Not all of Kentucky was backwoods in the late eighteenth century. This stunning mahogany chest with inlaid bellflowers and shells was made in Mason County for one of the region's elite.

Attributed to the Calvert-Tuttle-Foxworthy Family of Cabinetmakers, Mason County, Kentucky, 1790-1800. Courtesy of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.

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