Few pieces of American furniture have received as much attention and acclaim as the commode-seat rococo side chairs commissioned by Philadelphia merchant John Cadwalader and his wife Elizabeth (Lloyd) (fig. 1). Only seven chairs from the set are known, but there may have been between sixteen and twenty originally. They appear to have been completed by September 1, 1770, when Charles Willson Peale received payment in full for portraits of John Cadwalader’s brother Lambert (fig. 2) and parents Thomas and Hannah.[1]
The chair illustrated in figure 3 may be the one depicted in Peale’s portrait of Lambert Cadwalader. The underside of the shoe is numbered “I,” and the carving on the back and seat rails (fig. 4) is more detailed and more carefully rendered than that on the other surviving chairs (figs. 5, 6). This disparity suggests that the chair shown in figure 3 may have been submitted for approval before work began on the remainder of the set. Because its carved details and upholstery evidence are clear and relatively unambiguous, this chair serves as a benchmark for reexamining aspects of the set’s manufacture, upholstery, and context.[2]
In 1927, furniture historian Samuel W. Woodhouse published one of the commode side chairs and attributed it to Philadelphia cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph. Since then, scholars have pointed to cabinetmaker Thomas Affleck and carvers Hercules Courtenay, John Pollard, Nicholas Bernard, and Martin Jugiez as possible makers. Most of these later attributions have cited bills, waste book entries, and inventories pertaining to Cadwalader’s house and furnishings, but few have reconciled these documents with the physical evidence on the chairs.[3]
The production of elaborate sets or suites of furniture required a great deal of cooperation between the patron and maker. Although John and Elizabeth probably approved drawings of the chairs, Lambert may have assumed responsibility for the completion of the set. During the fall of 1769, he supervised work on John and Elizabeth’s townhouse while the couple attended to her ailing father in Maryland. John’s waste book notes that he reimbursed Lambert £94.15 for “B. Randolph[’s] acct for Furniture” and £30 for “2 marble Slabs etc. had of C. Coxe.” It is impossible to attribute the chairs to Randolph’s shop based solely on the £94.15 entry, but that sum would have been sufficient for a large set.[4]
Circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that the chairs are products of Randolph’s shop. The acanthus leaves on the rails and knees (see figs. 4, 7) are by the same hand that carved two side chairs with Randolph’s label (figs. 8, 9). The carving on the Cadwalader chairs is also related to architectural work from the parlors of the Stamper-Blackwell house in Philadelphia (now installed in the Winterthur Museum) (fig. 10) and the Thomas Ringgold house in Chestertown, Maryland (now installed in the Baltimore Museum of Art) (fig. 11). These interiors feature details (figs. 12, 13) taken from Thomas Johnson’s A New Book of Ornaments (1762) (figs. 14, 15). Philadelphia carvers Hercules Courtenay and John Pollard probably introduced these rococo designs. Courtenay apprenticed with Johnson before immigrating to the colonies in 1765. He began his Philadelphia career as an indentured tradesman in Randolph’s shop, where he worked with London-trained carver John Pollard. Courtenay established his own shop by the summer of 1769. On September 17, 1770, he billed John Cadwalader £81.2.1 for architectural carving, including a “Tablet the Judgement of Hercules” valued at £8.10.[5]
Pollard was the principal carver in Randolph’s shop during the late 1760s and early 1770s. As such, he probably supervised several apprentices and journeymen. Because the ornament on the chairs differs significantly from work attributed to Courtenay and the other major carvers active in Philadelphia during the period, Pollard and his associates in Randolph’s workforce are the most likely candidates as carvers of Cadwalader’s commode-seat chairs. The chairs clearly represent the work of at least two carvers. In accordance with accepted eighteenth-century practice, the most accomplished tradesman worked on the stiles, crest, and back—the components nearest the eye.[6]
The carving on the backs of the chairs is most like that on the tablets and frieze appliqués in the Stamper-Blackwell and Ringgold parlors. All of these designs feature acanthus leaves with intricately curled tips and deeply modeled surfaces (see figs. 12, 13, 16). The foliage on the tablets and leaves below the central husk on the crests of the chairs rank among the finest American carving in the rococo style. The only Philadelphia carving that surpasses this work is on a pier table attributed to Pollard (fig. 17). This table, which also belonged to Cadwalader, may be one of the “2 marble Slabs etc.” that Lambert purchased from Charles Coxe for £30 in 1769. Like the architectural carving, the table has details (fig. 18) taken from British design books (fig. 19), specifically the third edition of Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1762). Randolph and his tradesmen undoubtedly had access to a copy. His trade card includes imagery borrowed from the Director, and Randolph was a member of the Library Company of Philadelphia, which owned a copy of the third edition by 1769. However, the overt British design of the table, architectural carving, and commode-seat chairs suggests that they reflect the imagination of an immigrant tradesman such as Pollard rather than a native-born entrepreneur such as Randolph. The latter was a lumber merchant before his investment in a successful privateering venture enabled him to hire the workforce for a cabinet shop.[7]
Cadwalader’s commode-seat chairs were the genesis of an elaborate suite of furniture made for the townhouse he and his wife purchased from Samuel Rhodes in 1769. At the time of their marriage in 1768, Elizabeth Lloyd’s personal wealth exceeded £11,000. A cash advance of £2,500 made by her father, Edward III, allowed the couple to purchase the townhouse and begin converting it into what one observer called “a grand and elegant” residence. Cadwalader made over £374 in unspecified payments to house joiner Thomas Nevell, which suggests that Nevell made and installed new architectural components throughout the house. The Cadwaladers’ residence also contained over £360 worth of architectural carving, including a variety of moldings, trusses, architrave flowers, frieze appliqués, and sculptural busts and tablets. Among the carvers who worked on this project were Hercules Courtenay, Nicholas Bernard, Martin Jugiez, and, in all probability, John Pollard. Randolph’s shop had the largest account, providing £252.16.1 worth of carving.[8]
Several pieces of furniture made by Thomas Affleck and carved by James Reynolds and by the firm of Bernard and Jugiez were designed to be en suite with Cadwalader’s commode-seat chairs. Between October 13, 1770, and January 14, 1771, Affleck’s shop made over eighteen pieces of furniture for Cadwalader. Included were two mahogany commode sofas “for the Recesses” valued at £16, “one Large ditto” valued at £10, “an Easy Chair to Sute ditto” valued at £4.10 (fig. 20), two commode card tables valued at £10, and four firescreens valued at £10. During the same time frame, Reynolds and Bernard and Jugiez were also occupied with other commissions from Cadwalader. In October 1770, Bernard and Jugiez billed Cadwalader £28.10.71/2 for architectural carving. Three months later, Reynolds charged him £140.18.1 for several large carved and gilded looking glasses, picture frames, and 539 yards of papiér-maché borders described as “Palmyra Scrowl” and “Leaf & Reed.”[9]
The commode-seat chairs were clearly part of a unified decorative scheme that included the suite made by Affleck and that extended to the architectural carving and fabrics used in each of Cadwalader’s principal rooms. Bills pertaining to the textile furnishings in Cadwalader’s house shed light on the probable number, upholstery, and placement of the commode-seat chairs. On October 18, 1770, Philadelphia upholsterer Plunkett Fleeson charged Cadwalader £13.13 for “covering 32 chairs over rail finish’d in canvis.” The following January, the upholsterer made seventy-six Saxon blue French check cases with blue and white fringe for these chairs and others that Cadwalader had either purchased or inherited from his father-in-law. The commode-seat chairs were subsequently fitted with covers made of blue and yellow silk damask that Cadwalader ordered from London merchants Rushton & Beachcroft. In January 1772, Philadelphia upholsterer John Webster billed Cadwalader £18.7.10 for making the curtains for four windows and for upholstering twenty chairs and three sofas with these fabrics. A subsequent entry in Cadwalader’s waste book provides additional information on Webster’s work, noting that the payment was for “Curtains in [the] front & back Rooms, Covers to Settees & Covers to Chairs in front & back Rooms.” The curtains and covers in the front room were blue and the ones in the back parlor were yellow to match the colors of each room’s walls and Wilton carpets. An “Inventory of Contents Remaining in [the] Cadwalader House” taken in 1786 lists two blue damask window curtains, a blue damask settee cover, ten blue damask chair covers, two yellow silk damask window curtains, ten yellow silk damask chair bottoms, and “1 cover of a settee for do.”[10]
Although the records pertaining to the upholstery of Cadwalader’s seating furniture are both detailed and extensive, the physical evidence on the commode-seat chairs documents a history of coverings more complicated than previously thought. All of the side chairs examined for this article had six strips of webbing, three nailed to the side rails and three to the front and rear rails (fig. 21). Fleeson would have pulled the front-to-rear strips much tighter than the other webbing in order to maintain the shape of the seat frame. After attaching the webbing, he nailed a layer of “canvis” to the top face of the seat rails to provide a foundation for the stuffing. The next procedure involved attaching upholstery rolls made of “curled hair” wrapped in canvas. Fleeson evidently stitched the rolls to the foundation canvas and nailed them to the upper edge of the front and side rails. Upholstery peaks (fig. 22) that extended above the seat rail at the outer corner of each front leg established the height of the rolls and profile of the seat (fig. 23a). The front rolls were uniform in height, but the ones on the side rails tapered from approximately 1/2" at the front to 1/4" at the rear. Once the rolls were attached, Fleeson stitched the first layer of hair in place. After building up the cavity with successive layers of hair, he attached the top canvas (fig. 23b). This was a critical step, because Fleeson had to pull the canvas from back to front as he nailed it in place. Only by keeping the canvas in constant tension could he maintain a sharp sweeping edge along the front rail.[11]
Fleeson charged 8s 6d for covering each of the chairs. Evidently this price included materials, since his bill does not include any additional charges for webbing, canvas, hair, tacks, thread, or tape. He probably returned the chairs to the cabinetmaker after January 28, 1771, when he recorded charges for making their slipcovers. Ultraviolet photography and microscopy indicate that the finish on the chairs was applied after the foundation upholstery (figs. 24, 25). Another Philadelphia side chair (figs. 26, 27), which may also be a product of Randolph’s shop, had its foundation upholstery and finish applied in the same sequence. Not surprisingly, its rail flouresces like those on the Cadwalader set.[12]
Evidence suggests that the slipcovers made by Fleeson and Webster fit rather snugly against the seat rails. Both sets of covers probably had shaped lower edges that conformed to the carved strapwork on the front and side rails. The narrow fringe stitched to the edges of the covers may have hung above or just over the carving.
With the exception of the chair illustrated in figure 3, all the commode-seat examples have two holes drilled with a spoon bit in the front and side rails (fig. 28). These holes appear to have been intended for tying on slipcovers, but it is impossible to determine if they are original. A strip of tape or cord attached to the covers would have been inserted through the holes at the back of each side rail and tied off in the middle. The remaining cords would have been tied off at each front corner (fig. 29).[13]
Although at least one set of slipcovers remained in the Cadwalader house until 1786, the chairs were subsequently fitted with fixed upholstery. The front and side rails have clear imprints from a row of brass nails with square, tapered shanks and heads approximately 1/2" in diameter. The nailing follows the curves of the carved strapwork, but varies from a maximum height of 1/2" to a low of 3/16" (figs. 30, 31). The unevenness in this pattern suggests that one set of slipcovers—probably the damask ones made by Webster—may have been reused. The fringe stitched to the lower edge would have made inconsistencies in the nail pattern almost imperceptible (fig. 32), and the tacks used to secure the edges of the covers adjacent to the carving would have been hidden (fig. 33).
By the fall of 1772, the Cadwaladers had nearly completed the furnishing of their townhouse. Their residence there was shortlived, however, owing to Elizabeth’s death in 1776 and John’s service in the Revolutionary War. During the British occupation of Philadelphia, Generals William Howe and William Knyphausen commandeered Cadwalader’s house. The latter made a relatively detailed list of the furnishings, most of which appear in the 1786 inventory.[14]
During the late 1770s and early 1780s, Cadwalader, his new wife Willimina Bond, and their children spent much of their time at Shrewsbury Farm in Kent County, Maryland. On January 8, 1786, he wrote Richard Tilghman that he could no longer afford to maintain two households. John died of pneumonia the following month. Willimina subsequently moved back to Philadelphia, having been left life tenancy in the townhouse “together with all the . . . furniture.” She lived in the house until September 1787, when she leased it to her brother Phineas Bond. Willimina and her family moved into a house at 35 Union Street; presumably she took most of the furnishings with her. They remained in her possession until 1819, when Willimina moved to England.[15]
Although it is impossible to determine precisely when or why the commode-seat chairs were fitted with fixed covers, the brass nails used to attach them and other physical evidence on the seat rails suggest that the alteration occurred during the late eighteenth century. By 1786, several of the objects commissioned by John and Elizabeth Cadwalader had fallen into disrepair. The front garret contained “10 old mahogany chairs many broke,” a damaged washstand, and two trunks containing the damask window curtains, fabric for mending them, ten blue damask chair “covers,” and ten yellow damask chair “bottoms.” These references, Willimina’s moves, and her family’s reduced finances support the theory that the slipcovers were reused, probably after she moved to Union Street.[16]
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For assistance with this article the authors thank Colonial Williamsburg photographers Hans Lorenz and Craig McDougal and furniture conservators Mark Kutney and Alan Miller.
