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POPULAR FANCY FURNITURE
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FANCY FURNITURE
After 1815, fancy furniture underwent a major transformation. To begin, expanding factory production made it possible to meat the increased demand. Many designs were replicated by the thousands in factories, such as those created by the ingenious Lambert Hitchcock, of Riverton Connecticut. Not surprisingly, prices spiralled downward. Fancy furniture from these larger factories was rarely individualistic. It simply did not pay for most large producers to experiment with uniques creations.
Products from smaller shops were often characterized by exaggerated features. Here, clients could communicate directly with workmen, who sometimes heightened effects by using bright colors, by adding ornamental details, or by exaggerating specific design features.Objects:

1. MARTHA ELIZA STEVENS PASCHALL WITH A FANCY CHAIR. Saint Louis, Missouri. Circa l830. Oil on Canvas. Height 51". Width 39". National Gallery of Art, Gift of Mrs. Kenneth M. Doty and Mrs. Andrew S. Keck. 1983.95.1.

2. FANCY ARMCHAIR. Attributed to John K. Cowperthwaite. New York, Circa l820. Painted maple and tulip and rush seat. Height 35". Courtesy, The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. 57.973.

After 1805, new techniques were applied to the production of fancy chairs. The imported cane seats and the mortise-and- tenon joints of earlier chairs were soon replaced by colorfully painted domestic rush and drilled joints. The prices of fancy chairs spiralled downward. Inexpensive examples could purchased for less than a dollar each.

3. FANCY WINDSOR ROCKING CHAIR. New England. 1815-1830. Painted pine and maple with mahogany arms. Height 45". Courtesy Marshall Goodman.

Among the most popular forms of fancy furniture was rocking chairs. They calmed the human spirit and helped to induce the deeply-felt, imaginative responses of the new romantic outlook. It is hardly accidental that the demand for them--in a myriad of shapes, sizes and decoration--surged after the War of 1812.

4. CHILD'S FANCY WINDSOR ROCKING CHAIR. Southwest Virginia. 1825-40. Painted yellow pine, poplar, maple, and hickory. Height 17". Courtesy J. Roderick Moore.
Fancy painting was commonly applied to traditional windsors to create a new genre--fancy windsor chairs. This delightful example from western Virginia has exaggerated rockers and handpainted vignettes that suggest transfer printed scenes.5. FANCY ROCKING SETTEE WITH CRADLE ATTACHMENT. Maine. 1825-40. Painted basswood, birch, maple and pine. Height 33". Courtesy, Maine State Museum. 81.102.1.6. EAGLE FANCY CHAIR. Attributed to William Buttre. Albany, New York. Circa l8l5. Painted ash, beech and tulip with rush seat. Height 35". Courtesy, Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. 52.50.1.
This unconvention "Eagle Fancy Chair", made about 1815 by the Albany chairmaker William Buttre, is among the most engaging examples from the period. Whether Buttre made pieces exactly like those he advertised--with eagles' heads projecting above the crest--is unknown.
Illustration:
ADVERTISEMENT FOR WILLIAM BUTTRE. Photographic reproduction. Albany [N.Y.] Advertiser. February 16, 1815. Courtesy the Albany Institute of History.7. DRESSING TABLE. Probably New England. Circa l825. Painted wood and brass. Height 39 1/6". Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. 73.2000.2.
8. FANCY CHAIR. Hitchcock, Alford & Co., Hitchcocksville, Connecticut. 1832-43. Painted and stencilled birch. Height 34 1/4". Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. 72.2000.1.
Lambert Hitchcock was a skillful mechanic and brilliant salesman who transformed the traditional craft of chair-making into a flourishing industry. From the moment he connected his machinery to the whirling, water-powered shafts that ran through his shop, it was clear his business would succeed. His products were shipped not only across the country, but to the West Indies and South America. Peddlars wagons loaded with his chairs travelled the American countryside between 1818 and 1845.9. HOME AND SHOP OF DAVID ALLING, FANCY CHAIRMAKER. Artist Unknown. Newark, New Jersey. 1840-50. Oil on canvas. Height 21" Width 30". Courtesy the Newark Museum. 39.265.
David Alling, one of the most successful fancy chairmakers
in the mid-Atlantic region, operated his shop between 1801 and 1854. 10. FANCY CHAIR. Attributed to David Alling. Newark, New Jersey. Circa l835. Height 34 1/2". Courtesy the Newark Museum. Gift of Madison Alling. 23.2468.
This chair from the shop of David Alling relates closely in style to the products of Lambert Hitchcock. This may not have been accidental. Undaunted by competition from Connecticut, Alling sent chairs to New England for sale, where he apparently met with great success. 11. FANCY WASHSTAND. Isaac Wright and Company. Hartford, Connecticut. Circa l835. Painted white pine and basswood. Height 37 1/4". Courtesy the Connecticut Historical Society. 1969-45-0.
12. FANCY WRITING-ARM CHAIR. Probably New England. l820-35. Painted wood. Height 45 1/4". Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. 81.2000.2
13. FANCY CHAIR. Probably New York. 1815-1825. Painted wood with rush seat. Height 32 1/4". Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. 74.2000.1.
14. DRESSING TABLE. Eastern Massachusetts. Circa l815. Painted white pine and birch. Height 46 1/2". Width 34". The Hitchcock Chair Company Collection. * .
15. DESK AND BOOKCASE. Attributed to Joshua Livingston Wells (1776-1855). Aqueboque, New York. l810-1820. Painted white pine. Height 83". Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. 81.2000.1