1. For the purpose of this article, the term “Germanic” is used to describe people, objects, and furniture styles from areas as far south as Austria and as far north as Sweden and Denmark. Parts of northern Italy and Russia produced furniture of a closely related nature as well. For clarity, I refer to the late neoclassical style emanating from these parts of Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century as Biedermeier, even though this term is most properly used for objects originating in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Furniture from areas surrounding this central European core is stylistically related, however.
2. Mack Walker, Germany and the Emigration, 1816–1885 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964), p. 35. This is the best work in English on the subject. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1957 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1960), p. 57. Totals for Swiss immigrants are listed separately in Anges Bretting, Soziale Probleme deutscher Einwanderer in New York City 1800–1860 (Wiesbaden, Germany: Steiner, 1981), pp. 76–77.
3. Walker, Germany, p. 42. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics, p. 57.
4. Walker, Germany, pp. 47, 51.
5. Walker, Germany, p. 46; for a discussion of factors affecting immigration, see pages 42–69.
6. The term “master” is used in the European guild sense and does not merely denote shop ownership. Craftsmen earned the rank of master only after they had passed a series of guild examinations, completed their apprenticeships, and worked as a journeyman. Thomas Nipperdey, Deutsche Geschichte 1800–1866: Bürgerwelt und Starker Staat (Munich: Beck, 1983), pp. 210–13.
7. For a discussion of the theme of America in German culture, see Sigrid Bauschinger, et al., Amerika in der deutschen Literatur (Stuttgart, Germany: Reclam, 1975). Ludwig Gall, Meine Auswanderung nach den Vereinigten Staaten in Nord-Amerika, 2 vols. (Trier, 1822). Gottfried Duden, Bericht über eine Reise nach den westlichen Staaten Nordamerikas . . . in Bezug auf Auswanderung und über Völkerung, 2nd ed. (Bonn, 1834). For a discussion of the impact of this book, see Walker, Germany, p. 60.
8. Quoted in Walker, Germany, pp. 34–35; for a discussion of personal letters describing America, see pages 62–64.
9. As Walker, Germany, p. 62, notes, the popularity of such books is reflected in the fact that by 1858 at least 100 were in print. Alexander Ziegler, Der deutsche Auswanderer nach den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika: Ein Lehrbuch auf seinem Weg (Leipzig, 1849), pp. 108, 111, 109.
10. The scholarly material on the various routes and ports is substantial. Two of the best general sources are Walker, Germany, pp. 70–102; and Birgit Gelberg, Auswanderung nach Übersee (Hamburg, Germany: Christians, 1973). Bretting, Soziale Probleme, p. 1. Eventually Baltimore would also surpass Philadelphia as a trading center with Germany, owing to the demand for Chesapeake tobacco in north Germany. For information on Baltimore and its trade ties with North Germany, see David Ward, Cities and Immigrants: A Geography of Change in Nineteenth Century America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 28; and Walter Struve, Die Republik Texas, Bremen und das Hildesheimische (Hildesheim: Lax, 1983), p. 64.
11. Traugott Bromme, Rathgeber für Auswanderungslustige: Wie und Wohin Sollen Wir Auswandern (Stuttgart, 1846), p. 26. Franz Löher, Geschichte und Zustände der Deutschen in Amerika (Cincinnati and Leipzig, 1847), p. 298.
12. Gall, Meine Auswanderung, 2:100. Traugott Bromme, Hand- und Reisebuch für Auswanderer nach den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, 5th ed. (Bayreuth, 1848), pp. 159–60. Löher, Geschichte, p. 303.
13. Bruce Laurie, “Nothing on Compulsion: Life Styles of Philadelphia Artisans, 1820–1850,” Labor History 15, no. 1 (winter 1974): 338. Sam Bass Warner, Jr., The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its Growth (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1968), pp. 137–38. Philadelphia: Work, Space, Family, and Group Experience in the Nineteenth Century, ed. Theodore Hershberg (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), p. 180.
14. Hershberg, ed., Philadelphia, p. 180. For a complete breakdown of the furniture industry by nationality, see Elizabeth Page Talbott, “The Philadelphia Furniture Industry, 1850–1880” (Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1980), table I-3A. Robert Ernst, Immigrant Life in New York City, 1825–1863 (New York: King’s Crown, Columbia University), table 27.
15. For a discussion of this coffer, see Gerald W. R. Ward, American Case Furniture in the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1988), pp. 77–78. Bromme, Hand- und Reisebuch, p. 498. Ziegler, Der deutsche, p. 108.
16. For a discussion of Wesselhoeft, see Robert C. Cazden, A Social History of the German Book Trade in America to the Civil War (Columbia, S.C.: Camden House, 1984), pp. 82–89. Die Alte und Neue Welt [Philadelphia], November 19, 1836, p. 4; February 17, 1838, p. 4. This German-language newspaper was Philadelphia’s most important and is hereafter referred to as ANW. The Morris Library at the University of Delaware has a run on microfilm. The national scope of this operation is inferred from the national character of Wesselhoeft’s newspaper and bookstores. ANW, June 18, 1836, p. 3.
17. New York Daily Tribune, November 11, 1845, p. 2.
18. Walker, Germany, p. 68.
19. For a discussion of German guilds, see Fritz Hellwag, Die Geschichte des Deutschen Tischlerhandwerks vom 12. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert (Berlin: Deutscher Holzarbeiter-Verband, 1924). This book is the only major work on the history of German cabinetmaking guilds.
20. Bromme, Hand- und Reisebuch, pp. 494, 416. Ellis P. Oberholtzer, Philadelphia: A History of the City and Its People, 4 vols. (Philadelphia: Clarke, 1912), 4:333. Ferdinand Kürnberger, Der Amerika-Müde, Amerikanisches Kulturbild (Frankfurt am Main, 1857), p. 124. Quoted in Bretting, Soziale Probleme, 94.
21. This figure was obtained by comparing the Philadelphia Social History Project’s computerized “1850 Census of Manufacturing” data against the population census in order to check the shop owner’s place of birth. The remaining records from the now defunct Philadelphia Social History Project (hereafter referred to as PSHP) are at the Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania. This rough estimate of the percentage of German cabinetmakers who were listed in the directory was obtained by checking a sample of 389 German-born cabinetmakers on the PSHP’s “1850 Census of Population” against McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory, for 1850. Thirty-five Germans were in the directory (9 percent of the total). Although this estimate may be faulty due to misspelled names, clearly most Germans did not have themselves listed in directories. As noted in Hershberg, ed., Philadelphia, p. 509, 43.8 percent of the adult male population is included in the 1850 directory.
22. Ziegler, Der deutsche, pp. 108–9. ANW contains dozens of such advertisements. G. Gundrum, The American Interpreter/Der Amerikanische Dolmetscher (New Berlin, Penn., 1831).
23. Bromme, Hand- und Reisebuch, p. 480.
24. For a discussion of the Society of Journeymen, see Kathleen M. Catalano, “Cabinetmaking in Philadelphia, 1820–1840” (M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 1972), pp. 42–48. The Constitution of the Pennsylvania Society of Journeymen Cabinet-Makers, of the City of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1829), p. 11. For more information on these cabinetmakers, see Charles L. Venable, “Philadelphia Biedermeier: Germanic Craftsmen and Design in Philadelphia, 1820–1850” (M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 1986), p. 235ff.
25. Löher, Geschichte, p. 303. Hershberg, ed., Philadelphia, pp. 179–88.
26. ANW, March 30, 1844, p. 3. Philadelphia As It Is, and Citizens Advertising Directory (Philadelphia, 1833), pp. 72–74. ANW, October 15, 1841, p. 3. Philadelphia Directory and Register (Philadelphia, 1819), front matter. Numerous advertisements by Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore merchants for imported wine, meat, cheese, and chocolate appear in ANW between 1834 and 1844. The “Index to U.S. Customs House Papers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1790–1869,” Downs Manuscript Collection, Winterthur Museum, lists a wide variety of imported German goods, including foodstuffs.
27. See Struve, Die Republik, p. 11, for a discussion of German business agents and branches in America. The following central and northern European countries or cities had consuls in Philadelphia in 1820: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Prussia, and Hamburg. McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory, p. 500, shows a significant increase by 1850. By that time Austria, Bavaria, Bremen, Denmark, Württemberg, Hamburg, Hanover, the Netherlands, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden and Norway, and Switzerland had consuls in Philadelphia. For an account of a Philadelphia merchant attending the Leipzig trade fair and traveling throughout central Europe, see “Charles N. Buck Memoirs, 1791–1841,” Pennsylvania Historical Society. Buck served as consul general of Hamburg in Philadelphia, even though he was a naturalized citizen.
28. ANW, July 11, 1840, p. 4, and November 21, 1840, p. 4. The correct German titles for these works are “Abbildungstafel von 56 Goldmünzen aller Länder, mit Angabe des Werthes” and Grosses Adressbuch der Kaufleute, Fabrikanten, Apotheker, Berg und Hüttenwerke, Gasthöfe, u. von 3000 Städten von Europa ($7.00). ANW, August 7, 1842, p. 4.
29. ANW, January 26, 1839, p. 3, and July 11, 1840, p. 4. For examples, see Unidentified German Firm, “Furniture Mounts and Jewelry Catalogue” (ca. 1820), Mesker Iron Co., Collection, Missouri Historical Society; and Unidentified Bohemian Firm, “Gardner Island Glass Catalogue” (ca. 1800–1810), Downs Manuscript Collection, Winterthur Museum Library.
30. ANW, June 13, 1835, p. 3. ANW, May 4, 1844, p. 3. Philadelphia Directory and Register (1819), front matter. ANW, March 3, 1838, p. 3.
31. U.S. Bureau of the Census, “1820 Census of Manufactures,” Philadelphia County, p. 553. National Archives.
32. This Biedermeir style had its precursors in German neoclassical furniture, and it lingered on until midcentury, especially in rural areas. Hellwag, Die Geschichte, pp. 194–95. Talbott, “Philadelphia,” p. 36.
33. For a thorough discussion of the Biedermeier style, see Georg Himmelheber, Biedermeier Furniture (London: Faber, 1973); and Himmelheber, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels: Dritter Band, Klassizismus/Historismus/Jugendstil, 2nd ed. (Munich: Beck, 1983), pp. 72–128.
34. See Himmelheber, Die Kunst, pp. 105–7.
35. For a discussion of the influence of English design in Germany, see Jörn Bahns, Biedermeier-Möbel: Entstehung-Zentren-Typen (Munich: Keyser, 1979), pp. 17–18; and Himmelheber, Biedermeier Möbel, pp. 50–51.
36. For an example of German furniture being imported into New Orleans, see Stephen G. Harrison, “Furniture Trade in New Orleans, 1840–1880: The Largest Assortment Constantly on Hand” (M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 1997), p. 42ff.
37. German immigrants frequently brought substantial amounts of personal property with them to America. For examples, see Charles van Ravenswaay, The Arts and Architecture of German Settlements in Missouri: A Survey of a Vanishing Culture (Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri, 1977), pp. 81–104. Establishing the exact provenance of the Oppenheimer secretary has not proven a simple task. According to a 1984 auction catalogue entry, the secretary reportedly descended in the “Oppenheimer Family, Bedford County, Pennsylvania” (Sotheby’s, Important American Furniture, New York, January 26, 1984, lot 769). The desk was billed as being from Philadelphia, but its oak secondary woods, paneled drawer bottoms, pewter inlay, and German construction suggest that it was made in central Europe and imported to America. Research on the Oppenheimer family of Bedford County suggests that most of its members came there from Germany during the second half of the nineteenth century. Other Oppenheimers lived in Philadelphia and Dauphin Counties by 1850. It is possible that one of the latter families eventually moved to Bedford County, taking the desk in question with them (Gwen Morral, Bedford County Historical Society, to Charles Venable, March 24, 1986).
38. Windy C. Wick, “Stephen Girard: A Patron of the Philadelphia Furniture Trade” (M.A. thesis, University of Delaware, 1977), pp. 84–86. Clearly, the desk was considered German during the period because German craftsmen were repeatedly hired to repair the piece and because a late nineteenth-century newspaper article noted that the secretary was made by a specific German cabinetmaker. This newspaper account is noted in ibid. An 1804 bill for “1 bureau” valued at $650 is in the Girard Papers (Phyllis Abrams, Girard College, to Charles Venable, September 5, 1986). This amount is the most paid for any of the Girard furnishings and most likely is for this elaborate musical secretary.
39. Joseph G. Fledman gave the Smithsonian this desk in 1975. He purchased it from Peter Hill, who recalls that he acquired it on Pine Street in Philadelphia in the 1960s (Peter Hill to Charles Venable, February 21, 1985). For a closely related German example, see Bahns, Biedermeier Möbel, p. 100, fig. 86.
40. Laurence Libin, Metropolitan Museum of Art, to Charles Venable, December 2, 1985. Talbott, “Philadelphia,” p. 31.
41. See Rosemarie Stratmann, “Design and Mechanism in the Furniture of Jean-François Oeben,” Furniture History 4 (1973): 110–13; and John Flemming and Hugh Honor, “Oeben,” The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts (London: Penguin, 1977), p. 571. Biedermeier design was strongest in German- and Czech-speaking areas and highly influential in Scandinavia. The style also impacted other parts of Europe, including Russia, Hungary, and northern Italy. The spread of Biedermeier design to these areas was partially due to the movement of German-trained cabinetmakers within Europe. See Bahns, Biedermeier Möbel, pp. 91–108.
42. The Gratz and Kuhn examples are the subject of Deborah Ducoff-Barone, “Design and Decoration in Early Nineteenth Century American Furniture: A Case Study of a Philadelphia Secretary Bookcase,” The Decorative Arts Society Newsletter (Philadelphia Museum) (March 1983): 1–8. An inventory for Thomas Gilpin lists “1 mahogany French Secretary,” which was being sent to Wilmington, Delaware, for sale at auction in 1839 (Inventory of Thomas Gilpin, Philadelphia, 1817–1845, Downs Manuscript Collection, no. 2606, Winterthur Museum Library). The Philadelphia Cabinet and Chair Maker’s Union Book of Prices of Manufacturing Cabinet Ware (Philadelphia, 1828), pp. 38–39. For an example by the Boston firm of Isaac Vose & Son, see Page Talbott, “Boston Empire Furniture: Part I,” Antiques 107, no. 5 (May 1975): 880.
43. For an illustration of Mésangère’s plate 563 (1823), see Wendy Cooper, In Praise of America: American Decorative Arts, 1650–1830 (New York: Knopf, 1980), p. 264.
44. Besides the eight examples cited, several fall-front secretaries exhibiting Germanic traits have appeared in recent years. See Sotheby’s, The Andy Warhol Collection, New York, April 29, 1988, lot 3229; Sotheby’s Fine American Furniture, New York, June 27, 1990, lot 487; Sotheby’s, Fine Americana, New York, January 23, 1992, lots 1098 and 1157. The example sold as lot 1157 is made of bird’s-eye maple and fitted with a bookcase (for another illustration, see Maine Antique Digest, June 1989, p. 38-D). The design of this secretary and of a pedimented example formerly in the collection of James M. Goode (see Oscar Fitzgerald, Three Centuries of American Furniture [New York: Gramercy Publishing, 1982], p. 129) relates to the core group of eight discussed here; however, they appear to be from a different shop. According to Robert C. Smith, a secretary similar to the example sold as lot 1157 bears a label of Philadelphia cabinetmaker and furniture retailer Anthony Quervelle. See Robert C. Smith, “The Furniture of Anthony G. Quervelle, Part IV,” Antiques 105, no. 1 (January 1974): 180. Unfortunately, this labeled example has never been located by the author. For more on the example at the Dallas Museum of Art (fig. 15), see Charles L. Venable, American Furniture in the Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989), pp. 100–103; a privately owned secretary featuring a rectangular section with spherical finials on top is shown on page 102. For the other examples, see J. Michael Flanigan, American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1986), pp. 222–23; Christie’s, Fine American Furniture, New York, May 23, 1985, lot 183; Christie’s, Important American Furniture, New York, October 21, 1989, lot 297; Sotheby’s, Important Americana, New York, January 28, 1989, lot 1478; Christie’s, Important American Furniture, New York, January 22, 1993, lot 546; and Northeast Auctions, New Hampshire Auction, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, March 1, 1997, lot 586. For an early example (ca. 1800) of a design for a secretary with a sloping top, see Sammlung von Zeichnungen der neusten Londoner und Pariser Meubles als Muster für Tischler (Leipzig, 1796–n.d.), pt. 4, pl. 9. A copy of this work is at the Winterthur Museum Library. Although the title to this work states that it reproduces the latest designs from London and Paris, the one for this secretary is very Germanic. Georg Himmelheber, Bavarian National Museum, to Charles Venable, August 13, 1985.
45. The fall-front secretary is illustrated in Ducoff-Barone, “Design,” cover. The sideboard and knifeboxes are shown on p. 4.
46. Ducoff-Barone, “Design,” pp. 1–2. For examples of early nineteenth-century English pieces with brass inlay, see Margaret Jourdain, Regency Furniture (London: Country Life, Ltd., 1965), pp. 41–43. For the design with wings, see Pierre de la Mésangère, Collections des Meubles et Objects de Goût (Paris, 1804), pl. 125. That plate is illustrated in Ducoff-Barone, “Design,” p. 2. In 1823, Mésangère published designs for more typical French examples in plate 563.
47. A set of unpublished mechanical drawings and a diary fragment from 1819 by Fiedler are at the Historical Society of York County, Pennsylvania. These documents have been translated by Drs. Sylvia M. and Charles Venable.
48. See note 44 for citations of several Philadelphia secretaries exhibiting Germanic qualities. James Francis Dallett, “Michael Bouvier, Franco-American Cabinetmaker,” Antiques 81, no. 2 (February 1962): 198–200.
49. Journal of the Franklin Institute (Philadelphia), 1st series, October 1830, p. 274; and January 1834, p. 25. For examples that descended in the Markoe family of Philadelphia, see Sotheby’s, Fine American Furniture, New York, June 27, 1990, lot 395. For a discussion of the Crout shop, see Talbott, “Philadelphia,” pp. 209–11. Advertisement from the Public Ledger (Philadelphia), May 10, 1841, as quoted in Talbott, “Philadelphia,” p. 210. U.S. Bureau of the Census, “1850 Census of Manufactures,” Philadelphia County, p. 196, line 4.
50. Himmelheber, Biedermeier, p. 39. J. W. Hanke, Neues Journal für Möbelschreiner (Frankfurt am Main, 1841), back matter. The Crystal Palace, and Its Contents (London, 1852), p. 202.
51. For the best discussion to date of Belter’s career, see Marvin D. Schwartz, Edward J. Stamek, and Douglas K. True, The Furniture of John Henry Belter and the Rococo Revival (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1981).
52. For a discussion of German patternbooks, see Himmelheber, Die Kunst, pp. 106–8 and 121–32. For an overview of the German book trade, see “The Book Trade of Germany,” Hunt’s Merchant’s Magazine, November 1843, pp. 399–418; and Cazden, A Social History.
53. For extensive lists of Philadelphia book dealers, see O’Brien’s Philadelphia Business Directory, for 1844 (Philadelphia, 1844), pp. 50–51; and O’Brien’s Philadelphia Business Directory, for 1845, pp. 62–63. Advertisements for Mentz and Dobson are in the Philadelphia Circulating Business Directory, of 1838 (Philadelphia, 1838), pp. 13 and 20. ANW, May 20, 1843, p. 4.
54. O’Brien’s Philadelphia Business Directory, for 1850, p. 62. ANW, May 16, 1840, p. 3.
55. Advertisements for such works appear in ANW periodically between 1836 and 1842.
56. Hanke, Neues Journal, back matter.
57. For a Philadelphia example on cabriole legs, see Neal Auction Company catalogue, New Orleans, April 27, 1991, lot 600. |