Gerald W. R. Ward
“America’s Contribution to Craftsmanship”: The Exaltation and Interpretation of Newport Furniture

American Furniture 1999

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    A Plan of the Town of Newport in Rhode Island, surveyed by Charles Blaskowitz. Engraving, 1777. (Courtesy, Newport Historical Society.)

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Chest of drawers, Newport, Rhode Island, 1760–1775. Mahogany with chestnut. H. 34 1/2", W. 34", D. 17 3/4". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Bureau dressing table by Edmund Townsend, Newport, Rhode Island, 1765–1785. Mahogany with chestnut and yellow poplar. H. 33 5/8", W. 34 1/2", D. 18 7/8". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts.)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Desk-and-bookcase signed by Christopher Townsend, Newport, Rhode Island, 1730–1750. Mahogany. Dimensions not recorded. (Private collection; photo, Sotheby's.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    “Mahogany Cabinet-Topped Block-Front Scrutoir, Messrs. Brown & Ives, Bankers, Providence, U.S.A., Circa 1775.” From Edwin Foley, The Book of Decorative Furniture: Its Form, Colour, and History, 2 vols. (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1912), 2: plate 61. (Courtesy, Printed Book and Periodical Collection, Winterthur Museum Library.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    High chest of drawers, possibly by John Townsend and Benjamin Baker, Newport, Rhode Island, 1750–1765. Mahogany with chestnut. H. 86", W. 39 1/2", D. 21". (Courtesy, Newport Restoration Foundation.)

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Bureau table attributed to John Townsend, Newport, Rhode Island, 1785–1790. Mahogany with yellow poplar, chestnut, and white pine. H. 34 1/4", W. 37 1/8", D. 20 7/8". (Courtesy, Yale University Art Gallery; Mabel Brady Garvan Collection.)

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    High chest of drawers by John Townsend, Newport, Rhode Island, 1759. Mahogany with chestnut, cottonwood, and white pine. H. 83 5/8", W. 40 1/4", D. 21". (Courtesy, Yale University Art Gallery; bequest of Doris M. Brixey.) Inscribed “No. 28 /Made By /John Townsend /Newport /1759.”

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Commode, Montreal area of Quebec, 1780–1790. Butternut with white pine. H. 34 1/4", W. 47 1/4", D. 24 3/4". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; gift of Mrs. Dorothy Buhler in memory of Sarah M. Gilbert, gift of Estelle S. Frankfurter, and gift of John Gardner Green Estate, by exchange.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Detail of the label on the bureau table illustrated in fig. 3.