The backs of most colonial case furniture from cities such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia consisted of nothing more than a series of vertical or horizontal boards nailed directly to the rear of the carcass, as the photograph to the right shows. This technique was used on southern forms made in rural areas. In the towns of the Chesapeake, as in British urban centers, case furniture often was fitted with a complex back structure composed of wood panels surrounded by a mortised-and-tenoned frame. The panels were not fixed, but floated freely within the joined frame. Examples of the paneled back system are visible on this London-made library bookcase and on a Williamsburg desk and bookcase shown in its unconserved state.
Paneled backs were far more time-consuming to produce and more expensive for the customer, but the system offered important advantages. Simple nailed-on backboards provided little reenforcement for the case. The joined frame of the panel system supplied tremendous structural support by keeping the case in square. Because iron fasteners keep wood from expanding and contracting as temperature and humidity rise and fall, the boards in a nailed-on back often split and crack. The panels in backs like those shown here were designed to float freely within their frames so they rarely suffer such damage.
Library Bookcase Possibly Thomas Chippendale London, England, ca. 1762 Mahogany with oak and deal
Desk and Bookcase Desk and Bookcase Southside Virginia, possibly Surry County, 1760-1780 Black walnut with yellow pine, oak, and boxwood or maple Catalog no. 139
