Footnotes

1. For his support of Cromwell during the English Civil Wars, James’ father John was
created a baronet in 1657. By this date, however, James was apprenticed to a merchant in
Bremen, Germany. In 1658 he was married by a Calvinist minister to Helen Mercer and
soon returned to London to establish himself as a merchant. For more on the Claypoole family, see Evelyn Claypoole Bracken, The Claypoole Family in America (Indiana, Pa.: A.G. Halldin, 1971). Much of the Claypoole genealogy is also available online. See, for example, <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~heritagecrossroads/clayfam1.htm>.
2. William Penn’s A Letter From William Penn, Proprietary and Governour of Pennsylvania in America, to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders (London: Andrew Sowle, 1683), p. 3, states that “the purchasers of 1000 acres and upwards are placed in the Front and High Streets and begin on Delaware Front at the South end at Number One to Proceed with the Front to the North End to No. 43.” James Claypoole was no. 14 and Samuel Carpenter was no. 16. Although Claypoole and Carpenter were neighbors, they disagreed over a debt case against the Free Society of Traders which Claypoole fought vigorously.(James Claypoole to Edward Claypoole, February 20, 1682, cited in James Claypoole’s London Letter Book, edited by Marion Balderston [San Marino, Ca.: Huntington Library, 1967], pp. 86–87, 109–10.)
3. Information on the house is derived from James Claypoole to Edward Claypoole, October 2, 1683, in Balderston, ed., James Claypoole’s London Letter Book, pp. 20–21. John F. Watson, Annals of Philadelphia, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1857), 1: 558.
4. Claypoole discussed his appointment as treasurer of the society in his correspondence. See James Claypoole to Edward Claypoole, April 27, 1682, in Balderston, ed., James Claypoole’s London Letter Book, p. 127. James Claypoole’s will, dated December 5, 1686, is transcribed in Bracken, Claypoole Family in America, p. 14.
5. Although Penn recognized Claypoole’s faults, he continued to support him and remained a loyal friend. Penn Mss, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, Historical Society of Pennsylvania (hereafter cited HSP), Philadelphia, as cited in Balderston, ed., James Claypoole’s London Letter Book, pp. 8, 19.
6. James Claypoole’s will left “Joseph, my youngest son, my plantation bordering on Lewis Creek in Sussex County which I bought from my brother, Norton Claypoole.” (Bracken, Claypoole Family in America, p. 14). Norton had preceded James to the New World and settled in Delaware. William Penn and Thomas Lloyd were overseers of James’ will, and his wife was executrix. See James Claypoole to William and Elizabeth Hard, February 14, 1683, in Balderston, ed., James Claypoole’s London Letter Book, p. 208. This letter was meant to encourage new immigrants by suggesting the opportunities that awaited them. John Goodson to John and S. Dew, June 24, 1690, as quoted in “Letters from Pennsylvania, 1691,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 4, no. 2 (1880): 195. At least eleven joiners were working in the Delaware Valley by 1691 (Jack Lindsey, Richard S. Dunn, Edward C. Carter II, and Richard Saunders, Worldly Goods: The Arts of Early Pennsylvania, 1680–1758 [Philadelphia, Pa.: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1999], pp. 247–54).
7. William MacPherson Hornor, Blue Book: Philadelphia Furniture (Philadelphia, Pa.: privately printed, 1935), p. 3. Although Hornor’s book does not contain footnotes or other citations, many of his statements have proved accurate. Joseph Claypoole was undoubtedly acquainted with Plumley. On April 17, 1711, Claypoole witnessed an exchange of property between Richard Heath and Rose Plumley, Charles’ widow. Charles Morton Smith Papers, vol. 3, nos. 18, 19, HSP. John Moore Daybook, Sept. 2, 1710, and July 28, 1716, HSP, as cited in Cathryn McElroy, “Furniture of the Philadelphia Area: Forms and Craftsmen before 1730” (master’s thesis, University of Delaware, 1970), pp. 170–72. See also Arthur Leibundguth, “The Furniture Making Crafts in Philadelphia, c. 1730–c. 1760” (master’s thesis, University of Delaware, 1964), pp. 8–14. Both authors cite additional documents pertaining to the Claypoole family. Inventory of Charles Plumley, October 15, 1708, ms 111, Philadelphia City Hall.
8. Raymond V. Shepard, Jr., “James Logan’s Stenton: Grand Simplicity in Quaker Philadelphia” (master’s thesis, University of Delaware, 1968). Account Book of Isaac Norris (1709– 1740), p. 104, HSP. James Bonsall Account Book, p. 93; and Richard Hill Estate, vol. 18, pp. 52–60 both HSP and both cited in McElroy, “Furniture of the Philadelphia Area,” p. 171. Claypoole also charged Hill’s estate three pounds for making 120 “pidgeon holes” for papers and other documents. In her thesis, McElroy suggests that John Willet apprenticed with Joseph Claypoole. However, Willet was born in New York and began training with joiner Aaron Goforth in 1728 (Indenture between John Willett and Aaron Goforth, April 11, 1728, Richard Hill Estate, Logan Papers, vol. 18, p. 25, HSP). In his will, Goforth left his “books, wearing apparel and working tools” to his son-in-laws Richard Hill and Thomas Campbell (McElroy, “Furniture of the Philadelphia Area,” p. 184). Account Book of Nathaniel Allen, p. 100, HSP, as cited in Leibundguth, “The Furniture Making Crafts in Philadelphia,” p. 9.
9. Joseph Claypoole Will, Philadelphia Wills and Inventories, ms. 81, January 18, 1738. Joseph Claypoole Inventory as cited in McElroy, “Furniture of the Philadelphia Area,” p. 170. No apprenticeship record for Josiah is known. This supports the theory that he apprenticed with his father, since formal agreements were not required for contracts between family members. In January 1738, Josiah appears in the account book of Nathaniel Allen. He paid part of his £18 debt in cash and the remainder with “9 Pickturs Sent to John Hawes of Antegua” and a “pr. of Chest of Drawers for Moley” (presumably a ship). He purchased paper and books from Benjamin Franklin, and was credited for framing 36 pictures. Account Book of Nathaniel Allen, p. 149, HSP, as cited in Leibundguth, “The Furniture Making Crafts in Philadelphia,” p. 13. Josiah advertised in the South Carolina Gazette on March 22, 1739/40, April 16, 1741, August 9, 1741/42, and April 18, 1748, research files of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (hereafter cited MESDA). Claypoole’s indictment is mentioned in Cathryn J. McElroy, “Furniture in Philadelphia: The First Fifty Years,” Winterthur Portfolio 13 (1979): 80. November 10 and 21, 1739, Indictments, 1717–1790, Philadelphia County Court Papers, HSP. Despite extensive eVorts, the HSP has been unable to locate these papers. For more on the punishments that thieves and other criminals faced, see Theodore Thayer, “Town into City 1746–1765,” in Philadelphia: A 300-Year History, edited by Russell Weigley (New York: Barra Foundation, 1982), pp. 76–78.
10. Joseph married Rebecca Jennings on July 20, 1703. While there is some evidence that they married in Charleston, there is no evidence that Joseph ever worked in that city. The date and location of the marriage is referenced on <http://www.Flash.net/~wlemmon/HTML/ d0002/g00000.93.htm>. South Carolina Gazette, March 22, 1739/40, August 9, 1741/42, February 4, 1744/45, April 18, 1748.
11. Vestry Minutes, St. John’s Parish, Colleton, S. C. 1734–1817, pp. 43, 44, 89, South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston, S. C., typescript in MESDA research files.
12. Josiah Claypoole’s first child was born just a few months after his marriage to Sarah Jackson. “Register of St. Andrew’s Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina,” edited by Mabel L. Webber, South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 14, no. 3 (1913): 155–59, as cited in MESDA research files.
13. Horner, Blue Book, pp. 317–26. Bills from George Claypoole, Sr. to John Reynals, October 30, 1730–May 4, 1764, Coates-Reynell Papers, HSP, microfilm copy in the Joseph Downs Library (hereafter cited JDL), Winterthur Museum. Bill from George Claypoole, Sr. to Edward Shippen, dated paid on April 22, 1755, photocopy cataloged as ph1380, Col. 521, JDL. On October 27, 1783, George Claypoole, Sr. charged Greenberry Dorsy £10.1.1 for a mahogany chamber table (bill from George Claypoole to Greenberry Dorsey, October 27, 1783, ms. 55.528, JDL).
14. Bill from George Claypoole to Samuel Meredith, December 5, 1772. ms. 55.528, JDL. Samuel and Margaret were apparently married on May 21, 1772, <www.FamilySearch.org>. For a copy of AZeck’s bill, see Nicholas Wainwright, Colonial Grandeur in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pa.: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1964), p. 44.
15. There are clear aYnities between Charleston and Philadelphia furniture. Future research may clarify the role that Josiah played in introducing or perpetuating such attributes into Charleston’s cabinet trade. Eighteenth-century terminology is not precise, and cabinetmakers occasionally used the same term to describe two diVerent things. The term “ogee head,” for example, could also refer to a “scroll pediment,” or what modern collectors call a bonnet top.
16. Evidence suggests that Joseph or a carver in his shop executed the knee acanthus. The inside front of the upper middle drawer has a carved volute that appears to have been cut before the drawer was assembled. The upper right drawer also has an inscribed design showing the scalloping of the skirt. An Irish tea table with deeply webbed claw-and-ball feet that appears to predate the high chest was among the early furnishings of Graeme Park, built in 1721 or 1722 (Lindsey et al., Worldly Goods, p. 13, fig. 23).
17. Claypoole’s signature is not complete, but reads “Jos Claypoole 1743.” Since Josiah never returned to Philadelphia, this is almost certainly the signature of Joseph. Bracken, Claypoole Family in America, p. 48.
18. A related group of four Boston-area case pieces with ogee heads is discussed in Edward S. Cooke, Jr., “Boston Clothespresses of the Mid-Eighteenth Century,” Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1 (1989): 75–95. For more on Armitt and the descent of the desk-and-bookcase, see Stenton object file 72.4. Logan’s household accounts do not mention the purchase of an “escritoire,” as desk-and-bookcases like the one illustrated in fig. 12 were often called. A 1754 inventory of Stenton lists an “Escritoire with glass doors,” which may be this example. (An inventory of the Personal Estate of Sarah Logan, Deceased, taken June 4, 1754, Smith Family Papers, vol. 4, p. 182, HSP.)
19. Sir Danvers Osborn was appointed governor in May 1753 and took oYce in July. A troubled man, he committed suicide in October of that year. Christopher Gilbert, A Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture (SuVolk, Eng.: Furniture History Society, 1996), pp. 331, 337. A desk-and-bookcase similar to the Osborn example is illustrated in GeoVrey Beard and Judith Goodison, English Furniture 1500–1840 (Oxford, Eng.: Phaidon/Christie’s, 1987), p. 50. Fielded mirrors also occur on case pieces with broken-arch, or “scrolled” cornices. See Herbert Cescinsky, English Furniture From Gothic to Sheraton (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Dean-Hicks Co., 1929), p. 203.
20. A desk-and-bookcase with a pitch pediment reputedly made for Charles Norris in 1756 is in the collection of Independence National Historic Park. A photograph of this object is in the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection, Winterthur Museum.
21. John Head recorded the high chest and dressing table in his account book on April 4, 1726 (John Head Account Book, Vaux Papers, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.) Both pieces are in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
22. A dressing table similar to the example illustrated in fig. 21, but with a skirt shaped like the high chest shown in fig. 22, is illustrated in Wallace Nutting, Furniture Treasury, 2 vols. (Framingham, Mass.: Old America Co., 1928), 2: fig. 422. A spice cabinet that also appears to be by either Joseph Claypoole or George Claypoole, Sr. is shown in Lindsey et al., Worldly Goods, p. 140, no. 9.
23. “Letter of Thomas Penn to Richard Hockley, 1746–1748,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 40, no. 158 (April 1916): 226–27.
24. Sotheby’s Important Americana: Furniture, Folk Art, and Decorations, New York, October 15, 1999, lot 93.
25. Other apprentices in George Sr.’s shop included Thomas Rutter, who began his term on September 9, 1746 (Thomas Rutter Indenture, Account of Servants and Apprentices Bound and Assigned before James Hamilton, Mayor of Philadelphia [1745–1746], HSP, as cited in Liebundguth, “Furniture Making Crafts in Philadelphia,” p. 10). Further evidence that George Jr. trained in and continued to work in his father’s shop is found in a transaction between the Claypooles and Joseph Shippen in 1766. Shippen purchased a coal box, a box for a gun, a lock and a “pine case for papers.” The bill reads “Mr. Joseph Shippen to Geo. Claypoole” but is signed “received the above in full George Claypoole Junr” (bill from George Claypoole, Sr. to Joseph Shippen, January 28, 1766, Shippen Papers, vol. 10, pp. 73, 77, HSP). Either the bill was simply not specific in its initial reference to Claypoole, or it indicates that George Jr. continued to be active in his father’s shop. In 1770 George Sr. drafted his will leaving his namesake “all...[the] half inch walnut now cut out and planed, and lying in the loft over...[his] shop.” The elder George lived another 23 years, and he and his son died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 (Liebundguth, “The Furniture Making Crafts in Philadelphia,” p. 10). The elder George and his wife Catherine were buried in St. Paul’s Episcopal Churchyard; his wife’s death date is noted on the gravestone as March 31, 1770, and his is marked October 3, 1793. Numerous sources note his death date as 1770, which is incorrect.
26. Deborah Federhen, “The Serpentine-Front Chests of Drawers of Jonathan Gostelowe and Thomas Jones” Antiques 133, no.5 (May 1988): 1174–83.