Double Chest, ca. 1770
Charleston, South Carolina
Mahogany and cypress
Lent by the Chipstone Foundation 1997.14
 
Many early American furniture makers “employed” African-American slaves in their shops. Charleston cabinetmaker Thomas Elfe paid his white journeymen regular wages but did not pay his slaves at all. He would have bought his African-American workers at a slave auction, probably paying several hundred pounds for each man. Elfe recouped some of this expense through the sale of furniture the slaves helped build. He also rented out their services. For the labor of “George” and “Oxford,” who mainly sawed and planed boards, Elfe received about 10 shillings per day. The retail price for a mahogany double chest like the example seen here was about £70—many thousands of dollars today. However, this sum seems insignificant compared to the immense human costs associated with the institution of slavery.