Luke Beckerdite
The Concept of Copying in the Eighteenth-Century Carving Trade

American Furniture 2020

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Bust of Benjamin Franklin, attributed to Martin Jugiez, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1779–1790. White pine; iron. H. 35". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Jean Jacques Cafferi, Benjamin Franklin, Paris, France, 1779–1805. Plaster. H. 28". (Courtesy, New-York Historical Society.) 

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Pier table with carving attributed to Hercules Courtenay, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1770. H. 32", W. 54", D. 27". (Courtesy, Rhode Island School of Design, bequest of Charles Pendleton.)

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Design for a chimneypiece frieze -illustrated on plate 12 in Thomas Johnson’s A New Book of Ornaments, by Thos. Johnson Carver, Design’d for Tables & Friezes; Useful for Youth to Draw After (London, 1762). (Courtesy, © Victoria & Albert Museum.) 

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Detail of the knee carving on the table illustrated in fig. 3

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Side chair with carving attributed to Martin Jugiez, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1765. Mahogany. H. 39", W. 25 1/2", D. 23 1/2". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This chair is from a set of at least six.

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Design for a side chair shown on pl. 12 of the first and second editions of Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754; 1755). (Courtesy, Winterthur Library.) This design appears on pl. 14 in the third edition (issued in loose sheets in 1762 and as a complete volume in 1763).

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

     Side chair with carving attributed to John Pollard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1769. Mahogany with white cedar and yellow pine. H. 37 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Christie’s.) This example, which has the period ink inscription “Deshler” on its slip-seat frame, is from a suite comprising at least six side chairs, two card tables, and an easy chair.

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Designs for side chairs shown on pl. 13 in the first and second editions of Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754; 1755). (Courtesy, Winterthur Library.) This design appears on pl. 10 in the third edition (issued in loose sheets in 1762 and as a complete volume in 1763). 

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

     High chest of drawers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1750–1760. Mahogany with white cedar and tulip poplar. H. 102 1/2", W. 46 1/8", D. 21 3/4". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.) 

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

     Dressing table, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1765–1775. Mahogany with white cedar and tulip poplar. H. 28 3/8", W. 37", D. 18 3/4". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Details showing the carving on the lower center drawer in the base of the high chest illustrated in fig. 10 (left) and in the dressing table illustrated in fig. 11 (right). (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Side chair, Boston, Massachusetts, ca. 1765. Mahogany with maple and oak. H. 38 1/4", W. 25 1/2", D. 18 1/4". (Courtesy, Wadsworth Atheneum; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Side chair, England, ca. 1765. Mahogany with beech. H. 37 1/4", W. 23 1/4", D. 19 1/4". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; gift of Mrs. Joshua Crane in memory of her husband.) 

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

     Side chair, Boston, Massachusetts, ca. 1765. Mahogany with maple. H. 37 7/8", W. 25", D. 22". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Details showing the crests of chairs identical to the examples illustrated in fig. 15 (left) and fig. 14 (right).

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Details showing the knee carving of the side chair illustrated in fig. 15 (left) and a chair identical to those in the Phillips set (fig. 14) (right). 

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Carving pattern from the shop of Gideon Saint, London, ca. 1760. (Courtesy, Metropolitan Museum of Art; photo, Art Resource.) 

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

     Side chair with carving attributed to Hercules Courtenay, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1770. Mahogany. H. 41 1/2", W. 21 1/2", D. 17". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Side chair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1770. Mahogany. H. 41 1/4", W. 23", D. 21 1/4". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Details of the splats of the side chairs illustrated in figs. 20 (left) and 21 (right).(Photos, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Details of the knee carving on the side chairs illustrated in figs. 20 (left) and 21 (right).(Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

     

  • Figure 24
    Figure 24

    Detail of the right truss on the chimneypiece from the parlor of the Samuel Powel House, Philadelphia, 1770. (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 25
    Figure 25

    Armchair with carving attributed to Hercules Courtenay and an anonymous competitor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1770. H. 40 1/4", W. 25 1/4", D. 21 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 26
    Figure 26

    Armchair with carving attributed to Hercules Courtenay, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1770. H. 40 1/4", W. 25 1/2", D. 22". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The mate to this armchair is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

  • Figure 27
    Figure 27

    Details showing the backs of the arm-chairs illustrated in figs. 25 (left) and 26 (right). (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 28
    Figure 28

    Details showing the knees of the arm-chairs illustrated in figs. 25 (left) and 26 (right). (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 29
    Figure 29

    Details showing the arm supports of the armchairs illustrated in figs. 25 (left) and 26 (right). (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 30
    Figure 30

    Accounts from the papers of Matthias Lock with drawings, notations, and charges for carving, London, 1742–1744. (Courtesy, © Victoria & Albert Museum.)

  • Figure 31
    Figure 31

    Charles Willson Peale, Lambert Cadwalader, 1770. Oil on canvas. 51" x 40 7/8". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art.)

  • Figure 32
    Figure 32

    Side chair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1769. Mahogany with white cedar. H. 36 3/4", W. 23", D. 21". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 33
    Figure 33

    Easy chair attributed to the shop of Thomas Affleck with carving attributed to Bernard and Jugiez, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1771. Mahogany with yellow pine, white oak, white cedar, black walnut, and tulip poplar. H. 46", W. 36 1/2", D. 34". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 125th Anniversary Acquisition, gift of H. Richard Deitrich, Jr., 2001; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 34
    Figure 34

    Card table attributed to the shop of Thomas Affleck with carving attributed to the shop of James Reynolds, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1771. Mahogany with yellow pine, white oak, and tulip poplar. H. 28 3/4", W. 39 3/4", D. 19 3/4". (Courtesy, Dietrich American Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 35
    Figure 35

    Card table attributed to the shop of Thomas Affleck with carving attributed to the shop of James Reynolds, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1771. Mahogany with yellow pine, white oak, and tulip poplar. H. 28 1/2", W. 39 1/2", D. 19 3/4". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 36
    Figure 36

    Detail of the carving on the leg of the easy chair illustrated in fig. 33.

  • Figure 37
    Figure 37

    Bernard and Jugiez, truss over a door in Cliveden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1766. (Courtesy, Cliveden; photo, Luke Beckerdite.) 

  • Figure 38
    Figure 38

    Details of the carving at the center of the front rail of the card table illustrated in fig. 34 (top) and fig. 35 (bottom). (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 39
    Figure 39

    Pier glass attributed to the shop of James Reynolds, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1771. White pine; gesso, gold leaf. 55 1/2" x 28 1/2". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

  • Figure 40
    Figure 40

    Details of the carving on the pier glass illustrated in (fig. 39). 

  • Figure 41
    Figure 41

    Details of the carving on the front rails of the card table illustrated in fig. 34 (top) and the card table illustrated in fig. 35 (bottom). (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 42
    Figure 42

    Details of the carving on the legs of the card table illustrated in fig. 34 (left) and the card table illustrated in fig. 35 (right). (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 43
    Figure 43

    Charles Willson Peale, Martha Cadwalader, 1771. Oil on canvas. 50 3/4" x 37 9/16". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art.) 

  • Figure 44
    Figure 44

    Details of the carving on the frames of Charles Willson Peale’s portraits of (right) Lambert Cadwalader and (left) Martha Cadwalader. (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 45
    Figure 45

    Details of the carving on the frames of Charles Willson Peale’s portraits of (right) Lambert Cadwalader and (left) Martha Cadwalader. (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 46
    Figure 46

    Details of the carving on the frames of Charles Willson Peale’s portraits of (top) Lambert Cadwalader and (bottom) Martha Cadwalader. (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 47
    Figure 47

    Details of the carving on the frames of Charles Willson Peale’s portraits of (left) Lambert Cadwalader and (right) Martha Cadwalader. (Photos, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 48
    Figure 48

    Details of the busts illustrated in figs. 1 and 2.