American Classical Furniture 1810-35: The Schrimsher Collection

Bold, stately, and elegant furniture is revealed in this entirely new survey of design, regional varieties and workshop collaborations in the American East Coast in the early nineteenth century.

Kelly C. and Randall A. Schrimsher began collecting American Classical decorative art in the mid-1980s. Their notable collection comprises hundreds of pieces of furniture by some of the most celebrated cabinetmakers from the key centers of Classical furniture production in the United States: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Past literature on American Classical furniture has studied the production centers in relative isolation; however, this catalogue’s approach explores the rich artistic exchanges and rivalries that existed between the four cities including a selection of works by foremost cabinetmakers Duncan Phyfe, Charles-Honoré Lannuier, Isaac Vose, William Hancock, John and Hugh Finlay, Anthony Quervelle, and Joseph Barry. A lively export trade introduced Classical wares from these major centers of production to key ports across the United States such as Washington, D.C., Charleston, New Orleans, and beyond.

Wonderful examples by esteemed cabinetmakers and their workshops illustrate regional varieties, collaborations, and points of departure. In addition to the 85 full-page color illustrations of furniture, the book features over 150 additional comparative illustrations of pattern books, architectural designs, historical views, and detailed photos of carving, gilding, and painted surfaces.

The list of authors includes the Decorative Arts Trust’s Executive Director and current and past members of its Board of Governors: Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, Christine Thomson, Clark Pearce, Gregory R. Weidman, Kimberly E. Schrimsher, Matthew A. Thurlow, Peter M. Kenny, and Wendy A. Cooper.

All proceeds benefit the Decorative Arts Trust’s Publishing Grants program.

Matthew A. Thurlow is the executive director, Decorative Arts Trust Board. Prior to heading the Trust, Matt served as assistant director of Development for Major Gifts and Planned Giving at Winterthur; and research associate and installations coordinator in the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Clark Pearce is an independent furniture historian who serves as an advisor to collectors and institutions in America and internationally, and manages conservation projects for private clients and museums.

After a thirty-year career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Peter M. Kenny retired in 2014 as the Ruth Bigelow Wriston Curator of American Decorative Arts and administrator of the American Wing.

Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley is the Montgomery-Garvan curator of American decorative arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Gregory Weidman is nationally recognized as a leading authority on Maryland furniture and historic interiors. She is a curator at Hampton National Historic Site in Baltimore County, and curator for Baltimore’s other National Park Service site, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.

For over 30 years Christine Thomson has been a furniture and decorative surfaces conservator with emphasis on the study and treatment of painted, lacquered, gilded and varnished surfaces.