Kevin M. Sweeney
Regions and the Study of Material Culture: Explorations along the Connecticut River

American Furniture 1995

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1 Box, possibly by John Nott, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1640-1680. Oak. H. 7 1/2", W. 23 3/4", D. 16". (Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America [New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901], p. 251, fig., 221.)
  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Chest with drawers, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1675-1700. Oak with pine. H. 40", W. 48", D. 20". (Courtesy, Historic Deerfield, Inc.; photo, Amanda Merullo.) In The Furniture of Historic Deerfield (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1976), p. 167, Dean A. Fales Jr. speculated that the chest may have descended from Hannah Talcott (1665-1741), who married Major John Chester at Wethersfield in 1686, to their daughter Sarah. historic-deerfield.org

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Chest with drawers, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1704. Oak with pine. H. 37 1/4", W. 48", D. 21" . (Courtesy, © The Art Institute of Chicago, Wirt D. Walker Fund, acc.1993.521)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Chest, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1670-1690. Red oak with yellow pine. H. 26", W. 48 1/2", D. 20 1/4". (Courtesy, Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Door, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1640-1680. Yellow pine. H. 70 3/8", W. 38 1/4", D. 1 1/4". (Courtesy, The Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Chest, probably Windsor, Connecticut, 1640-1680. White oak and white pine (top) with tulip poplar. H. 27", W. 48", D. 19 3/4". (Courtesy, Yale University Art Gallery, The Mabel Brady Garvan Collection.)

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Press, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1670-1690. Oak with yellow pine. H. 67", W. 68", D. 19". (Courtesy, Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Chest with drawers, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1675-1690. Oak with pine. H. 37
    3/4", W. 45 7/8", D. 19 3/8". (Courtesy, The Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.)

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Dressing table attributed to Return Belden, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1740-1760. Sycamore with white and yellow pine. H. 27 3/8", W. 35", D. 24 1/2". (Courtesy, Porter Phelps Huntington Historic House Museum; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Side chair, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1740-1770. Maple; remnants of original black paint. H. 40", W. 19 3/4", D. 14". (Courtesy, Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund.) This chair is from a set of at least five originally owned by Dr. Ezekiel Porter (1706-1775) of Wethersfield. A very similar set descended in the Buck family of Wethersfield.

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Armchair, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1735-1790. Poplar and ash. H. 44 3/8", W. 15 1/2" (seat), D. 14 5/8". (Courtesy, Yale University Art Gallery, The Mabel Brady Garvan Collection.) Four side chairs and an armchair of this type are owned in Wethersfield by a descendant of the original owner.

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Side chair, probably Norwalk, Connecticut, 1750-1760. Maple and ash. H. 43 3/4", W. 19", D. 15." (Courtesy, Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Side chair, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1770-1790. Hickory and pine. H. 45", W. 17", D. 13". (Courtesy, Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Side chair, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1750-1770. Cherry and maple. H. 41", W. 15 1/4", D. 17 1/2". (Courtesy, Brooklyn Museum, Henry L. Batterman Fund.) This is one of a set of chairs possibly owned by Dr. Ezekiel Porter of Wethersfield (see also fig. 10) and probably owned by his son-in-law, Colonel Thomas Belden (1732-1782).

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Side chair, Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1735-1760. Cherry. H. 40 1/2", W. 18 1/2", D. 15 1/4". (Private collection; photo courtesy, Connecticut Historical Society.) This chair is from a set of at least five. The slip seats of two chairs have most of their original foundation upholstery and remnants of their needlework covers.

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    High chest of drawers, possibly Middletown, Connecticut, 1760-1780. Cherry with pine and tulip poplar. H. 86", W. 29 1/2", D. 21". (Courtesy, Middlesex County Historical Society; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Southwest View of Bernardston, Massachusetts, ca. 1838. (From John W. Barber, Massachusetts Historical Collections [Worcester, Mass.: Dorr, Howland, 1839].)