Luke Beckerdite
Religion, Artisanry, and Cultural Identity: The Huguenot Experience in South Carolina, 1680–1725

American Furniture 1997

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Detail of Edward Crisp, A Compleat Description of the Province of CAROLINA in 3 Parts. 1st The Improved part from the Survey’s of Maurice Mathews & Mr. John Love. 2ly. the West part by Capt. Thos. Narin. 3ly A Chart of the Coast from Virginia to Cape Florieda. Colored engraving. 32 3/4" x 40". (Courtesy, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.) This map was engraved by John Harris in London and published by Crisp about 1711.

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2 A Plan of the TOWN & HARBOUR of CHARLES=TOWN, shown on the map illustrated in fig. 1. The Dutch residences are designated “Vnderwood” and “Vandross.” Joiner Pierre Le Chevalier’s house in Charleston is 4, and the Huguenot church is R. By 1704, there were two churches—French and English—and three meeting houses—Presbyterian, AnaBaptist, Quaker—in the Charleston vicinity. (Courtesy, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina)
  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Jacques Le Moyne de Morgue, Réné de Laudonniére and the Indian Chief Athore Visit Ribaut’s Column, probably Paris or London, 1564. 4" x 10". Gouache and metallic pigments on vellum. (Courtesy: Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations). Le Moyne was a member of the French expedition that settled at Fort Caroline on the St. John’s River in 1564. Although the colony failed in less than a year, Le Moyne survived and returned to Paris. In 1572, he escaped the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day and fled to London. Encouraged by Sir Walter Raleigh, Le Moyne began drawing and painting plants, insects, and scenes of Indian life remembered from his voyage. His watercolor of commander Réné de Laudonniére and Chief Athore visiting the column erected by the first French expedition is an idyllic depiction of Europeans and Native Americans sharing the riches of the New World. This imagery must have held special meaning for Le Moyne and other Huguenots, who undoubtedly saw America as a place of opportunity and sanctuary (Jessie Poesch, The Arts of the Old South: Paintings, Sculpture, Architecture & the Products of Craftsmen, 1560–1860 [New York: Harrison House, 1983], pp. 3

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Map of France showing birthplaces of Huguenot joiners who emigrated to Carolina. (Art work, Wynne Patterson.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Armchair, coastal South Carolina, 1680–1700. Cherry with ash. H. 41 1/4", W. 23", D. 16 1/4". (Private collection; courtesy, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6 Detail of a Danish room illustrated in Søren Terkelsen, Dend hydrinade Astrea (Copenhagen, 1645). Terkelsen’s engravings show how French styles influenced interior decoration in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries.
  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Detail of one of the pinned joints on the armchair illustrated in fig. 5.

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Detail of a partially cut mortise on the armchair illustrated in fig. 5. Another mortise about 1/8" deep also shows evidence of having been drilled with a center bit.

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Couch, coastal South Carolina, 1700–1725. Walnut. H. 38 7/8", W. 27 1/4" (seat), L. 80 3/4". The upper portion of the crest rail is missing. (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Detail of the back of the couch illustrated in fig. 9.

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Gateleg table, probably New York City, 1700–1725. Mahogany with maple and tulip poplar. H. 30 1/8"; top: 58" x 72 1/4" (open). (Courtesy, Historic Hudson Valley, Tarrytown, New York; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The original owners may have been Philip Van Cortlandt (1683–1748) and his wife, Catherine De Peyster (1688–ca. 1766), who were married in 1710.

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Conjectural drawing of the back of the couch illustrated in fig. 9, showing how the missing carved components on the crest rail probably appeared. (Drawing by Luke Beckerdite, artwork by Wynne Patterson.)

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Detail of the nailing evidence for a sacking bottom on the rails of the couch illustrated in fig. 9. The holes adjacent to the beaded edges are from a later cane bottom.

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Conjectural drawing of a pavilion based on diagrams in Peter Thornton, Seventeenth-Century Interior Decoration in England, France and Holland (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1978), p. 158. (Artwork by Wynne Patterson.)

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Armchair, possibly coastal South Carolina, 1690–1720. Walnut. H. 45 1/2" (feet restored), W. 22", D. 16 3/4". This chair originally had a plank seat. During the nineteenth or early twentieth century, the seat boards were removed and the upper edges of the beaded seat rails were rounded to accommodate a woven seat. (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16 Detail of the back of the armchair illustrated in fig. 15.
  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Armchair, probably New York City, 1685–1700. Maple stained red. H. 44", W. 22 1/2", D. 17 1/4". (Private collection; photo Christopher Zaleski.)

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Escabeau, Charleston, South Carolina, 1695–1725. Cypress. H. 24 3/4", W. 15 1/4", D. 113/4". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Detail of the top of the escabeau illustrated in fig. 18.

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

    Escabeau, Quebec, 1690–1700. Birch, maple, and pine. H. 22 5/8". (Courtesy, Historic Deerfield.)

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Gateleg table, Charleston, South Carolina, 1690–1710. H. 29 1/2"; top: 52 1/4" x 67 1/8" (open). Cypress and red cedar. (Courtesy, The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) charlestonmuseum.org

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Detail of a batten on the gateleg table illustrated in fig. 21. (Courtesy, The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) charlestonmuseum.org

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Detail of the end of a batten on the gateleg table illustrated in fig. 21. (Courtesy, The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) charlestonmuseum.org

  • Figure 24
    Figure 24

    Gateleg table, northern Europe, 1680–1720. Red pine. H. 28 1/2"; top: 38" x 67 1/4" (open). (Courtesy, Charleston Museum; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Damage to the rail below the replaced drawer suggests that the original was missing for some time; however, the current cypress drawer appears to be an early eighteenth-century Carolina replacement. The battens under the leaves are chamfered and dovetailed in the same manner as those illustrated in figs. 22 and 23. The turnings of this table are very similar to those on late seventeenth-century chairs from southwestern France. (Courtesy, The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) charlestonmuseum.org

  • Figure 25
    Figure 25 Table, Charleston or Berkeley County, South Carolina, 1695–1715. Walnut. H. 29 3/4", W. 51" (frame), D. 41 1/2" (frame). (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The legs of this table were turned from 3 1/2" stock.
  • Figure 26
    Figure 26

    Henrietta Johnston, Thomas Broughton, Charleston, South Carolina, 1710–1711. Crayon on paper. 10 5/8" x 7 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 27
    Figure 27

    Detail of a leg, ogee-molded top, and a dovetailed cleat on the table illustrated in fig. 25.

  • Figure 28
    Figure 28

    Thomas Coram, View of Mulberry, House and Street, painted in Charleston or Berkeley County, South Carolina, 1805. Oil on paper. 4 1/16" x 61 1/16". (Courtesy, Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Association, 68.18.01; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 29
    Figure 29

    Mulberry, Berkeley County, South Carolina, ca. 1714. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 30
    Figure 30

    Detail of a second-floor room in Mulberry. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 31
    Figure 31

    Detail of the central panel of the door illustrated in fig. 30. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 32
    Figure 32

    Buffet bas, Quebec, ca. 1700. Red pine painted red. H. 39 3/4", W. 41 5/8", D. 19". (Courtesy, Historic Deerfield.)

  • Figure 33
    Figure 33

    Henrietta Dering Johnston, Henriette Charlotte de Chastaigner, 1700-1754. Pastel on paper. 11 5/8" x 8 7/8". (Courtesy, Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Association, 38.20.04; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 34
    Figure 34

    Limrick, Berkeley County, South Carolina, ca. 1711. (Courtesy, Library of Congress.)

  • Figure 35
    Figure 35

    Detail of the stair in Limrick. (Courtesy, Library of Congress.)

  • Figure 36
    Figure 36

    Table, probably Berkeley County, South Carolina, ca. 1711. Cypress with traces of original red paint. H. 27 7/8", W. 36 3/16", D. 23 1/4". (Courtesy, The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) charlestonmuseum.org

  • Figure 37
    Figure 37

    Table, coastal South Carolina, 1780–1820. Cypress painted blue. H. 28 1/4", W. 37 1/2", D. 22 1/2". Courtesy, The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) charlestonmuseum.org

  • Figure 38
    Figure 38

    Dressing table, probably Charleston, South Carolina, 1700–1720. Mahogany with red bay. H. 28", W. 32 3/4", D. 18 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)

  • Figure 39
    Figure 39

    Table, probably Charleston, South Carolina, 1700–1720. Cypress painted black. H. 27 5/8", W. 26", D. 21". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 40
    Figure 40

    Table, coastal South Carolina, 1700–1720. Walnut and tulip poplar with yellow pine. H. 29 1/2", W. 27 1/2", D. 21 1/4". (Courtesy, National Park Service, George Washington Birthplace National Monument, GEWA20433; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 41
    Figure 41

    Gateleg table, Charleston, South Carolina, 1700–1725. Walnut with yellow pine and cypress. H. 291/2"; top: 47 3/4" x 57 1/2". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 42
    Figure 42

    Henrietta Johnston, Samuel Prioleau, Charleston, South Carolina, 1715. Crayon on paper. 12" x 9". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 43
    Figure 43

    Henrietta Johnston, Susanne Le Noble, Charleston, South Carolina, 1710. Crayon on paper. 10 7/8" x 6 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 44a
    Figure 44a

    Sacramental plate for Biggin Church, St. John’s Parish, South Carolina, including: (a) Standing cup by Miles Brewton, Charleston, South Carolina, ca. 1711. Silver. H. 7 5/8". Silver gilt. Dimensions unrecorded. (Courtesy, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 44b
    Figure 44b

    Sacramental plate for Biggin Church, St. John’s Parish, South Carolina, including: (b) Paten by Miles Brewton, ca. 1711. Silver. H. 2 15/16", Diam. 5 3/4". Silver gilt. Dimensions unrecorded. (Courtesy, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 44c
    Figure 44c

    Sacramental plate for Biggin Church, St. John’s Parish, South Carolina, including: (c) Cup, Paris, seventeenth century. Silver gilt. Dimensions unrecorded. (Courtesy, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.)

  • Figure 45
    Figure 45

    Dressing table, Charleston, South Carolina, 1725–1735. Walnut. H. 31 5/8", W. 3 13/4", D. 21". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.) The dressing table has an illegible inscription written in French.