Woodworker's Journal 1985-9-3, страница 25

large case pieces were cupboards for storage and display and chests for storage. Smaller boxes, called Bible boxes, featured a slanted lid that served as a Bible stand or as a writing surface.

Inventories from the Plymouth Colony reveal that most homes had only one or two chairs which were reserved for the master of the household and perhaps an important guest. A typical dinner arrangement would have the master at the table head with the rest of the family seated either on benches or on simple stools called joint (or joined) stools. These joint stools, one of which is featured as a project on page 28, were among the most common articles of furniture in the colonial home.

Other common articles were chair-tables and crude trestle or rectangular tables, although toward the end of the period variations began to appear, among them the gate-leg and butterfly table. Beds were usually four turned posts with a low head board and simple frame. Hooded cradles of paneled construction were also quite common.

A closer look at the various important furniture forms prevalent during the American Jacobean period follows.

COURT&PRESS CUPBOARDS: These were the most important pieces of furniture, and were only found in the wealthier homes. The court cupboard, which had a shelf above and/or below, with a recessed cabinet between, was for the storage and display of china and utensils. Shallow drawers formed a skirt below the center shelf. The cabinet was frequently canted on both sides for greater display area, and the shelves were supported by heavy balusters. The turnings, carved motifs, spindles and bosses were usually painted or stained black to simulate ebony.

The press cupboard, on the other hand, was intended chiefly for the storage of clothing and linen, and therefore was comprised of a cabinet with large drawers, and little or no display area. Although their purpose and designs differed, the types of decoration and the construction techniques of both the court and press cupboards were, for the most part, shared.

CHESTS: While few homes could afford a court or press cupboard, almost every home had one or more chests. It was an essential item, serving as storage, and often used as a table or bench. Although the six board chest

was most common, few of these plain chests exist today. The paneled chests feature the same frame-and-panel construction used in the cupboards, with

the same decorative moldings, carving, spindles and bosses so characteristic of the period. Some examples, such as the Connecticut or sunflower chests, feature motifs that were unique but often copied in a specific geographic area. The addition of drawers below the chest marked the beginning of the development of what we now recognize as a chest of drawers.

CHAIRS: There are two basic styles of American Jacobean chairs: the wainscot and the turned post and spindle (or slat) type. The wainscot chair, which descended from Elizabethan England, had a paneled back and seat, usually with decorative carving on the back. Of the post and spindle chairs, those named for two of the founding fathers, Carver and Brewster, are best known. Both feature extensive use of turned spindles, with the Brewster chair having spindles both in the back and below the seat.

TABLES: Trestle tables as long as 8 ft. were quite common. Given the large families at that time, a long table was certainly practical. Stretcher base tables with turned legs and the dual-purpose chair table were the other basic types of tables, although it should be noted that there was great variety in both the design and decoration of these pieces.

Pine and oak were the predominant woods used during the period. Although oak was preferred, the availability of pine and the ease with which it could be worked made it an important wood. Much of the furniture was either painted or stained, a device often used to emphasize carving or decorative motifs.

Unfortunately, this last point has only recently been widely recognized. For years, collectors had stripped the paint from American Jacobean work, thinking that it had been added on later. For this reason, pieces with their original paint are highly prized, very rare, and far more valuable than similar pieces that have been stripped and refinished.

Although American Jacobean work was closely related to the medieval forms that had dominated for so long, the beginning of the colonies in the new world also marked the beginning of a simpler, less ornate, more substantive style. This was an important theme that would carry through many different periods and styles that were to follow. W\\j