Nancy Goyne Evans
The Christian M. Nestell Drawing Book: A Focus on the Ornamental Painter and His Craft in Early Nineteenth-Century America

American Furniture 1998

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Detail of the front cover of the Christian M. Nestell Drawing Book, New York City, 1811–1812. Ink on paper boards with leather. 15 5/16" x 10". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum Library.)

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Advertisement of Christian M. Nestell, Providence Patriot, Providence, Rhode Island, February 26, 1820. (Courtesy, University of Delaware Library.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Detail of the Daniel Anthony map of Providence, Rhode Island, 1823. Engraving on paper. 23 1/2" x 33 5/8". (Courtesy, Rhode Island Historical Society Library.)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4 Advertisement of Christian M. Nestell, Providence Patriot, Providence, Rhode Island, August 28, 1822. (Courtesy, University of Delaware Library.)
  • Figure 5
    Figure 5 Windsor side chair, Christian M. Nestell, Providence, Rhode Island, 1820–1822. Woods unknown. H. 33 1/4", W. 17 3/4" (crest), D. 15" (seat). (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 6
    Figure 6 Detail of the label on the bottom of the chair illustrated in fig. 5
  • Figure 7
    Figure 7 Windsor side chair by Christian M. Nestell, Providence, Rhode Island, 1825–1835. Woods and dimensions unknown. (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Photograph of Christian M. Nestell. Frontispiece of Nestell Lodge, No. 37, A.F. and A.M., Providence, Rhode Island, Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration, 1880–1930 (Providence: By the lodge, 1930). (Courtesy, Rhode Island Historical Society Library.)

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9 Page 4 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book. Pencil and watercolor on laid paper.
  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Page 54 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Page 5 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12 Illustration from William Enfield, Elementary View of the Fine Arts, London, 1809, following p. 280. (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum Library.)
  • Figure 13
    Figure 13 Page 1 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 14
    Figure 14 Page 60 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 15
    Figure 15 Page 57 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Detail from William Faden, A Map of the Inhabited Part of Canada, London, 1777. Engraving on paper. 23 5/8" x 34 7/16". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17 Page 58 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Page 73 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19 Page 82 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 20
    Figure 20 Detail of the inside back cover of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 21
    Figure 21 Page 11 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 22
    Figure 22 Page 12 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 23
    Figure 23 Page 50 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 24
    Figure 24 Page 9 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 25
    Figure 25 Page 72 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 26
    Figure 26 Page 10 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 27
    Figure 27 Page 29 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 28
    Figure 28 Page 34 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 29
    Figure 29 Page 67 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 30
    Figure 30 Page 16 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 31
    Figure 31 Page 19 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 32
    Figure 32 Page 21 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 33
    Figure 33 Page 65 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 34
    Figure 34 Page 41 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 35
    Figure 35 Page 53 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 36
    Figure 36 Page 52 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 37
    Figure 37 Page 24 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 38
    Figure 38 Page 76 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 39
    Figure 39

    Detail of plate 1 of the “Accompaniment” to Thomas Sheraton, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book, London, 1793. (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum Library.)

  • Figure 40
    Figure 40 Page 35 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 41
    Figure 41 Page 33 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 42
    Figure 42 Page 17 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 43
    Figure 43 Page 56 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 44
    Figure 44 Page 37 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 45
    Figure 45 Page 79 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 46
    Figure 46

    Page 23 of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 47
    Figure 47 Page 55 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 48
    Figure 48 Page 28 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 49
    Figure 49

    Page 15 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 50
    Figure 50

    Detail of plate 3 of the “Accompaniment” to Thomas Sheraton, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book, London, 1793. (Courtesy, Winterthur Library.)

  • Figure 51
    Figure 51

    Detail of plate 3 of the “Accompaniment” to Thomas Sheraton, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book, London, 1793. (Courtesy, Winterthur Library.)

  • Figure 51
    Figure 51 Page 7 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 52
    Figure 52 Page 59 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book
  • Figure 53
    Figure 53 Page 43 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 54
    Figure 54 Detail of plate 27 from Lorenzo Roccheggiani, Invenzioni Diverse di Mobili ed Utensilj Sacri e Profani, Rome, ca. 1806. (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum Library.)
  • Figure 55
    Figure 55 Page 36 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 56
    Figure 56 Page 77 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 57
    Figure 57

    Page 20 of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 58
    Figure 58 Page 71 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 59
    Figure 59 Page 70 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 60
    Figure 60 Page 26 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 61
    Figure 61 Page 27 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 62
    Figure 62

    Page 49 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 63
    Figure 63 Page 25 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 64
    Figure 64 Page 32 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 65
    Figure 65 Page 30 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 66
    Figure 66 Page 38 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 67
    Figure 67 Page 18 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 68
    Figure 68

    Page 42 of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 69
    Figure 69 Page 22 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 70
    Figure 70 Page 40 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 71
    Figure 71

    Page 74 of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 72
    Figure 72 Page 61 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 73
    Figure 73 Page 78 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 74
    Figure 74 Page 44 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 75
    Figure 75 Page 81 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 76
    Figure 76 Page 63 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 77
    Figure 77 Page 80 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 78
    Figure 78 Page 6 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 79
    Figure 79 Page 45 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 80
    Figure 80

    Page 14 of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 81
    Figure 81

    Page 13 of the Nestell Drawing Book.

  • Figure 82
    Figure 82 Page 48 (top) of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 83
    Figure 83 Page 46 of the Nestell Drawing Book.
  • Figure 84
    Figure 84 Detail of the back panel of a fancy side chair, New York City, 1815–1820. Maple, cherry, yellow poplar, and hickory. H. 32 3/4", W. 19", D. 16 1/2". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 85
    Figure 85 Detail of the center back of a bentwood side chair by Samuel Gragg, Boston, ca. 1809–1812. Birch, white oak, and beech. H. 34 3/8", W. 18", D. 25 1/8". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 86
    Figure 86 Detail of the top of a card table, Middletown area of Connecticut, 1795–1810. Maple with white pine. H. 29", W. 38", D. 18 5/8". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 87
    Figure 87 Detail of the back of a Windsor armchair, New York City, 1814–1820. Yellow poplar, and maple. H. 34 1/2", W. 167/8" (crest), D. 16 7/8" (seat). (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 88
    Figure 88 Detail of the upper back of a Windsor side chair by Silas Buss, Sterling, Massachusetts, 1820–1827. White pine and other woods. H. 34 7/8", W. 16 1/2" (crest), D. 15 3/4" (seat). (Courtesy, Marblehead Historical Society, Marblehead, Massachusetts; photo, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 89
    Figure 89 Detail of the upper back of a Windsor side chair, New York City, ca. 1809–1815. Yellow poplar and other woods. H. 34 3/4", W. 16 3/8" (crest), D. 14 1/4" (seat). (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 90
    Figure 90

    Detail of the right crest panel of a fancy settee, probably northeastern Massachusetts, 1810–1820. Maple, mulberry, ash, birch, and hickory. H. 34", W. 66 1/2" , D. 19". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 91
    Figure 91 Detail of the upper back of a Windsor side chair, New York City, 1820–1825. Yellow poplar, maple, and other woods. H. 34 3/16", W. 15 7/8" (crest), D. 15 1/4" (seat). (Private collection; photo, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 92
    Figure 92

    Fancy armchair, New York City, 1810–1820. Maple and yellow poplar. H. 35", W. 20", D. 16". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 93
    Figure 93 Fancy side chair by John and Hugh Finlay, Baltimore, 1815. Yellow poplar, maple, and walnut. H. 32 1/2", W. 17 3/4", D. 20". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 94
    Figure 94

    Detail of the center panel on the skirt of the card table illustrated in fig. 86.

  • Figure 95
    Figure 95 Detail of the left front panel on the skirt of a pier table, Baltimore, 1810–1820. White pine, poplar, and cherry; marble. H. 34 1/4", W. 53 1/2", D. 24 1/4". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)
  • Figure 96
    Figure 96 Detail of the crest tablet of a fancy upholstered-seat side chair, possibly John or Hugh Finlay, Baltimore, 1815–1825. Cherry, maple, and yellow poplar. H. 315/8", W. 20 1/8", D. 21 1/2". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)