Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
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Title: Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
Author: Mary Harrod Northend
Release date: January 9, 2011 [eBook #34897]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COLONIAL HOMES AND THEIR FURNISHINGS ***
Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from
scanned images of public domain material from the Internet
Archive.
COLONIAL HOMES
AND THEIR FURNISHINGS
[Illustration: PLATE I.--Dodge-Shreves Doorway. Built in 1816.]
COLONIAL HOMES
AND
THEIR FURNISHINGS
BY
MARY H. NORTHEND
_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS_
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1917
_Copyright, 1912,_
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
THIS BOOK
IS DEDICATED TO
ONE THROUGH WHOSE CONSTANT ENCOURAGEMENT
AND WISE ADVICE I OWE MY SUCCESS
IN THE FIELD OF LITERATURE
PREFACE
The wonderfully good collection of antiques for which Salem is noted was
of great interest to me, being owned by personal friends who kindly
consented to allow me for the first time to go through their homes and
pick out the cream of their inheritance. If the readers are half as
interested in these objects as I have become,--growing enthusiastic in
the work through the valuable pieces found,--they will enjoy the
pictures of colonial furnishings, many of which cannot be duplicated in
any other collection of antiques. Family bits, wonderful old Lowestoft,
and other treasures are included, all brought over in the holds of
cumbersome ships, at the time when the commerce of Salem was at high
tide.
To Mr. Charles R. Waters, Mrs. Nathan C. Osgood, Mrs. Henry P. Benson,
Mrs. William C. West, Mrs. Nathaniel B. Mansfield, Miss A. Grace
Atkinson, Mrs. Walter C. Harris, Dr. Hardy Phippen, Mrs. McDonald White,
and Mr. Horatio P. Peirson, as well as many others in my native city, I
owe acknowledgment for their kindness in opening their houses and
letting me in, as well as to Mrs. George Rogers of Danvers, Mrs. D. P.
Page, Dr. Ernest H. Noyes, and Mrs. Charles H. Perry of Newburyport,
Mrs. Walter J. Mitchell of Manchester, Mrs. Prescott Bigelow and Mrs.
William O. Kimball of Boston, Mrs. A. A. Lord of Newton, Mrs. Charles M.
Stark of Dunbarton, N.H., and the late Mr. Daniel Low.
The work was commenced at first through ill health and the desire for
occupation, and has met with such good results through an interest in
the story of antiques, that I have to-day one of the most valuable
collections of photographs to be found in New England.
MARY H. NORTHEND.
AUGUST 1, 1912.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE vii
I. OLD HOUSES 1
II. COLONIAL DOORWAYS 16
III. DOOR KNOCKERS 29
IV. OLD-TIME GARDENS 41
V. HALLS AND STAIRWAYS 54
VI. FIREPLACES AND MANTELPIECES 63
VII. OLD-TIME WALL PAPERS 79
VIII. OLD CHAIRS AND SOFAS 92
IX. SIDEBOARDS, BUREAUS, TABLES, ETC. 105
X. FOUR-POSTERS 119
XI. MIRRORS 132
XII. OLD-TIME CLOCKS 145
XIII. OLD-TIME LIGHTS 159
XIV. OLD CHINA 172
XV. OLD GLASS 194
XVI. OLD PEWTER 210
XVII. OLD SILVER 223
LIST OF PLATES
I. Dodge-Shreves Doorway. Built in 1816 _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
II. The Warner House, Portsmouth, N. H. Built
in 1718 8
III. Middleton House, Bristol, R. I. Built about
1808 9
IV. Indian Hill Farm, West Newbury, Mass. Begun
soon after 1650 12
V. Andrew House Doorway, 1818 13
VI. Gardner House Doorway, 1804 22
VII. Doorway of Nathan Robinson House, 1804 23
VIII. Sixteenth Century Knocker, Lion type. Striker,
of first type; Georgian Urn type, in use
on modern houses; Mexican Knocker of
the Hammer type; Hammer type Knocker,
Eighteenth Century, Charles P. Waters
House 32
IX. Eagle Knocker; Eagle Knocker, Rogers House,
Danvers, Mass.; Medusa Head, elaborate
early type; Garland type of Knocker 33
X. Whittier Garden, Danvers, Mass. 46
XI. Peabody Garden, Danvers, Mass. 47
XII. Saltonstall Hallway, about 1800 54
XIII. Hallway, Lee House, 1800 55
XIV. Hallway, Tucker House, about 1800 60
XV. Hallway of Wentworth House, 1750 61
XVI. Historic Fireplace at Ipswich, Mass. 64
XVII. Old Fireplace in Wentworth House, Portsmouth,
N. H. 65
XVIII. First Hob Grate in New England, Waters
House; Mantel Glass and Fireplace, showing
decoration of floral basket 70
XIX. Middleton House Steeple Top Andirons, and
Bellows; Southern Andirons, Atkinson
Collection 71
XX. Cupid and Psyche paper, Safford House 80
XXI. Venetian paper in Wheelwright House, Newburyport 81
XXII. Roman Ruins paper, Lee Mansion, Marblehead 86
XXIII. Adventures of Telemachus paper, Nymphs
Swinging 87
XXIV. Queen Anne Fiddle Back; Queen Anne,
Stuffed Chair; Dutch Chair, carved;
Empire Lyre-backed Roundabout, on
Chippendale lines, 1825 92
XXV. Chippendale, Lord Timothy Dexter's Collection,
H. P. Benson; French Chair, showing
Empire influence; Flemish Chair;
Banister-back Chair 93
XXVI. Chippendale Armchair, showing straight,
square legs; Chippendale Chair; Chippendale,
one of a set of six, showing
Rosette design; Chippendale Armchair
with Cabriole legs, Ball and Claw feet 96
XXVII. Empire Sofa; Cornucopia Sofa; Sofa in
Adams style, about 1800 97
XXVIII. Sheraton, mahogany frame, about 1800;
Sheraton, with solid arms, and straight,
slender legs; Sheraton, about 1790.
Note the graceful curve of the arms 100
XXIX. Sheraton, about 1800; Sofa, about 1820;
Sofa, about 1820, with winged legs 101
XXX. Sheraton Night Table; Block Front Bureau
Desk, owned by Dr. Ernest H.
Noyes, Newburyport, Mass.; Cellarette,
1790, owned originally by Robert Morris 106
XXXI. Dressing Glass, with Petticoat legs; Empire
Bureau, 1816 107
XXXII. Chest of Drawers, 1710; Six-legged High
Chest of Drawers, about 1705 108
XXXIII. Dressing Table, with brass feet; Bureau
and Dressing Glass 109
XXXIV. Block Front Bureau Desk, owned by
Nathan C. Osgood. One of the best
specimens in New England; oak paneled
Chest, about 1675 112
XXXV. Secretary, showing Shell ornamentation;
Highboy with Shell ornamentation and
Ball and Claw feet, 1760; Highboy with
Shell ornamentation 113
XXXVI. Dressing Table, 1760; Mahogany Commode,
collection of Nathan C. Osgood. 116
XXXVII. Sheraton Sideboard; Simple form of Sheraton
Sideboard, with line Inlay around
Drawers and Doors. Date, 1800 117
XXXVIII. Bedstead in Middleton House, 1798 120
XXXIX. Sheraton type in Kittredge House; Four-poster,
about 1825 121
XL. Field Bedstead, slept in by Lafayette, in
Stark Mansion. Owned by Mrs.
Charles Stark, Dunbarton, N. H. 124
XLI. Sheraton Four-poster; Four-poster showing
decided English characteristics 125
XLII. Girandole in George Ropes House, 1800;
Girandole, 1800; Constitution Mirror,
1780 134
XLIII. Picture Mirror, showing Dawn, in Adams
House, 1703; English Georgian Mirror,
1750; Two-piece Looking Glass, 1750 135
XLIV. Oval Mirror, showing Acanthus Leaves.
Once on Cleopatra's Barge. The first
pleasure yacht built in America. Mirror,
1710, resting on ornamental knobs;
Mirror, 1810, in Dudley L. Pickman
House 140
XLV. Mirror, 1770; Lafayette Courting Mirror,
Osgood Collection; Empire Mirror, 1810 141
XLVI. Willard Banjo Clock, 1802; Banjo Clock,
1804; Willard Banjo Clock, 1802 150
XLVII. English Grandfather's Clock, William Dean
Howells; Collection of Old Clocks, property
of Mr. Mills, Saugus, Mass.; Grandfather's
Clock, formerly owned by President
Franklin Pierce. Property of Mrs.
Charles Stark 151
XLVIII. General Stephen Abbot Clock; Terry Shelf
Clock, 1824; English Clock, with Ball
ornamentation 158
XLIX. Whale Oil Lamps with Wicks; Mantel
Lamps, 1815; Paul and Virginia Candelabra 159
L. Astral Lamps, 1778; English Brass Branching
Candlestick, showing Lions 164
LI. Colonial Mantel Lamp; Single Bedroom
Brass Candlestick; Sheffield Plate Candlesticks 165
LII. Pierced, or Paul Revere, Lantern; Old
Hand Lantern; English Silver Candlestick;
Brass Branching Candlestick,
Chippendale, 1760 170
LIII. Peacock Plate of Delft, very rare; Decorated
Salt Glaze Plate, about 1780 171
LIV. Liverpool Pitcher, showing Salem ship; Old
Chelsea Ware; Canton China Teapot;
Wedgewood, with Rose decoration.
Very rare 176
LV. Gold Luster Pitcher; Staffordshire Pitcher,
with Rose decoration; Peacock Delft
Pitcher; Jasper Ware Wedgewood
Pitcher, Blue and White 177
LVI. The Shepherd Toby. One of the rarest Tobies;
English Toby, very old; very old
Toby showing Cocked Hat 190
LVII. Venetian and English Decanters; Toddy
Glasses, about 1800; English Glass with
Silver Coasters. Very old 191
LVIII. Russian Glass Decanter and Tumblers. Note
the exquisite cutting on this Decanter 200
LIX. English Cut Glass Decanter, about 1800;
Typical Red Bohemian Glass Decanter;
American Glass Bottle, Jenny Lind, about
1850 201
LX. Bohemian Glass. The center one is rare,
showing figure of Peacock, in Red and
White; English Cut Glass Wineglasses,
1790; English Glass Decanters. Very fine
and rare 208
LXI. Pewter half-pint, pint, and quart Measures.
One hundred years old; Three unusual
shaped Pewter Cream Jugs; German Pewter,
Whorl pattern 209
LXII. Old Silver Coffee Urn with Pineapple finial;
Sheffield Plate Teapot, formerly owned by
President Thomas Jefferson; Tall Silver
Pitcher, of Flagon influence 226
LXIII. Several old silver pieces; collection of Salem
silver, almost all inherited; wonderfully
fine Silver Bowl with chasing 227
CHAPTER I
OLD HOUSES
There is an indescribable charm surrounding colonial houses, especially
if historic traditions are associated with them. Many of an early date
of erection are still to be found throughout New England towns, where
the Puritan and the Pilgrim first settled, and not a few have remained
in the same families since their construction. Some are still in an
excellent state of preservation, though the majority show weather-beaten
exteriors, guiltless of paint, with broken windows and sagging sills,
speaking forcibly of a past prosperity, and mutely appealing through
their forlornness for recognition.
These are not, however, the first homes built by the colonists, and,
indeed, it is doubtful if any examples of the earliest type are still
standing. These were rude cabins built of logs, kept together by
daubings of clay thrust into their chinks, and showing roofs finished
with thatch. Great chimneys were characteristic of all these cabins,
built of stone, lengthened at the top with wood, and best known by the
name Catted Chimneys. In the rude interiors of the old-time fireplaces
hung soot-blackened cranes, while on cold, cheerless nights the blaze of
logs on the hearths
"Made the rude, bare, raftered room
Burst, flowerlike, into rosy bloom."
The next type was the frame house, built large or small according to the
means of the owner, and constructed through the influence of Governor
John Endicott, who sent to England for skilled workmen. Generally, these
dwellings were two stories in height, the more pretentious ones showing
peaks on either side to accommodate chambers, and their marked
superiority over the first type soon resulted in their adoption
throughout New England. In design they bore some resemblance to the
Dutch architecture of the period, the outcome doubtless of many of the
early settlers' long sojourn in Holland. Many of the frames were of
white wood brought from the mother country in the incoming ships, and
the low ceilings invariably present were crossed with the heavy beams of
the floors above, projecting through the timbers.
The lean-to, characteristic of some houses of this type, did not come
into vogue until about the middle of the seventeenth century, and its
adoption is generally believed to have been for the use of the eldest
son of the family, who, according to the law of England, would inherit
the homestead, and until such inheritance, could remain, with his
family, beneath the ancestral roof.
The third type, the gambrel-roofed house, was at the height of its
popularity about the time of the Revolutionary War, and continued in
favor until the tide of commercial prosperity sweeping through the land
brought in its wake the desire for more pretentious dwellings. Then came
into fashion the large, square, wooden mansion, later followed by that
of stately brick, excellent examples of both types being still extant.
Like the Egyptian Isis who went forth to gather up the scattered
fragments of her husband Osiris, fondly hoping that she might be able to
bring back his former beauty, so we of to-day are endeavoring in New
England to gather and bring into unison portions of the early homes,
that we may eventually restore them to their original charm and
dignity. Outwardly these dwellings appear much as they did when built,
more than a century ago, but inwardly sad changes have been wrought,
leaving scarcely a trace of their old-time beauty. Yet beneath this
devastation one versed in house lore can read many a tale of interest,
for old houses, like old books, secrete between their covers many a
story that is well worth while.
Among the carefully preserved specimens, none of the earlier type is
more interesting than the Pickering house at Salem, Massachusetts, built
in 1660, more than a hundred years before the Revolution. The land on
which it stands is part of the twenty acres' grant which was a portion
of Governor's Field, originally owned by Governor Endicott, and conveyed
by him to Emanuel Downing, who, in order to pay for his son George's
commencement dinner at Harvard, disposed of it to John Pickering, the
builder of the home, in 1642.
In design, the dwelling is Gothic, a popular type in the Elizabethan
period, and closely resembles the Peacock Inn at Rouseley, England. The
timbers used in its construction were taken from a near-by swamp, and
when it was first built it showed on the northern side a sloping roof
affording but a single story at that end. In 1770, the then owner,
Timothy Pickering, decided to raise this end to make room for three
chambers, and the new portion was built to conform exactly with the old
part, the windows equipped with the same quaint panes, set in leaded
strips, which were finely grooved to receive the glass, on which the
lead was pressed down and soldered together. It was found when the
weatherboards were ripped off that the sills were sound, and it was
decided to continue to use them, feeling they would last longer than
those that could then be obtained. Two of the peaks found to be leaky
were removed at this time, and they were not replaced until 1840, when
Colonel Timothy Pickering's son, John, had reproductions set in place.
The house has never been out of the Pickering family, and, with one
exception, has descended to a John Pickering ever since its erection.
Distinctly a New England landmark is the Colonel Jeremiah Page house at
Danvers, Massachusetts, erected in the year 1750. It occupies a site
that at the time of its construction was on the highway between Ipswich
and Boston, now broadened at this point and known as Danvers Square.
Originally, it consisted of four rooms, but these were later moved back
and a new front added, the ell being replaced by a larger one.
From a historic point of view, the roof is probably the most interesting
feature of this old home, for here occurred the famous tea-party that
Lucy Larcom has forever immortalized. During the troublous times of
1775, when all good patriots scorned the use of tea, Colonel Page
demanded that it should not be drunk beneath his roof. Mistress Page had
acceded to his request, but she did not promise that she would not drink
it on his roof, so with a few friends she repaired one afternoon to the
rail-enclosed roof, and here brewed and distributed the much liked
beverage. The secret of the tea-party did not leak out until after her
death, when one of the party, visiting at the house, asked to be taken
to the roof, at the same time relating the, till then unknown,
experience.
Antedating the Page house some twenty-five years is the home of the
Stearns family on Essex Street, Salem, erected by Joseph Sprague, a
prominent old-time merchant, whose warehouse occupied the present site
at the corner of North and Federal streets. This dwelling is of spacious
dimensions, excellently proportioned, and it is especially interesting
from the fact of its unusual interior arrangement, which provides on
each floor for three rooms at the back and only two at the front. The
original owner was captain of the first uniformed company of militia
organized in Salem, April 22, 1776, and he was also the first American
to spill his blood in the Revolution, receiving a slight wound at the
time of Leslie's retreat, while scuttling his gondola so it should not
fall into the hands of the enemy.
Another fine old home is the Cabot house, also in Salem. This dwelling,
erected in 1745 by one Joseph Cabot, is considered by experts to be of
the purest colonial type, and it has proved a subject of unusual
interest to any number of artists and architects.
No modern touch has been allowed to mar the old-time aspect of the
Whipple house at Ipswich, Massachusetts, built in 1760, and which
remains wholly unchanged from its original construction. It stands
to-day almost alone in its picturesque antiquity, its huge central
chimney, tiny window-panes, plain front door, guiltless of porch, with
iron knocker, steep-pitched roof with lean-to at the back nearly
sweeping the ground,--all betokening its age. Little wonder it is the
haunt of tourists, for it presents a picture in its old-time beauty that
modern architecture can never duplicate.
In the historic town of Marblehead, in Massachusetts, is one of the most
interesting of old-time homes,--the Colonel Jeremiah Lee mansion, built
in 1768, and considered at the time of its erection the finest house in
the Colonies. It was designed by an English architect at a cost of ten
thousand pounds, and the timber and finish used in its construction were
brought from England in one of the colonel's ships. It stands well to
the front of the lot of which it forms a part, with scarcely any yard
space separating it from the sidewalk, and it boasts a handsome porch
supported by finely carved pillars, approached by a flight of steps. The
broad entrance door, with its brass latch and old-time knob, swings
easily upon its great hinges into a spacious hall that extends the
length of the dwelling, affording access to the finely finished interior
apartments.
Equally as interesting as these old homes are several houses in New
Hampshire, one of the most prominent being the Stark mansion at
Dunbarton. This was built in 1785 by Major Caleb Stark of Revolutionary
fame, and it is approached to-day through the original tree-lined
avenue, a mile in length. In construction it is of the mansion type, two
stories in height, with gambrel roof, twelve dormer windows, and a
large, two-storied ell. Its entrance door is nearly three inches
through, with handsome, hand-made panels, and it swings on wrought-iron
hinges two feet either way. It is adorned with a knocker and latch that
were brought from England by the major. Ever since its erection, this
house has been occupied by a member of the Stark family, and the present
owner, Charles Morris Stark, boasts the distinction of being of
Revolutionary stock on both sides of the family, his mother being a
lineal descendant of Robert Morris, the great financier of the
Revolution.
[Illustration: PLATE II.--The Warner House, Portsmouth, N. H. Built in
1718]
Another interesting colonial home is the Warner house at Portsmouth,
occupying a corner section on one of the city's main thoroughfares. This
fine dwelling was erected by Captain Macpheadris, a wealthy merchant who
came to this country from Scotland, and it is built of Dutch bricks that
were imported from Holland, with walls eighteen inches thick. It stands
firmly on its foundation, a magnificent specimen of early construction;
and its gambrel roof, Lutheran windows, quaint cupola, and broad
simplicity of entrance door, suggest the old-time hospitality that was
so freely dispensed here. After the captain's death, the house came to
his daughter, Mary, who had married Hon. Jonathan Warner, a member of
the King's Council until the outbreak of the Revolution, and it is by
his name that the fine old home is known.
Two miles from Portsmouth, at Little Harbor, is the old home of Governor
Benning Wentworth, built in 1750. In general, this dwelling is two
stories in height, with wings that form three sides of a hollow square,
though it boasts no particular style of architecture, appearing to be
rather a group of buildings added to the main structure from time to
time. It is screened from the roadway by great trees, and on the north
and east faces the water. Originally it had fifty-two rooms, but some of
these have been combined, so to-day there are but forty-five. The cellar
is particularly large, and here in times of danger the governor hid his
horses. After the governor's death, his widow married John Wentworth,
and it was during the occupancy of Sir John and his wife that Washington
was entertained here.
Typical of the wooden mansion type, that succeeded in favor the
gambrel-roofed dwellings, is the house now known as the Endicott house,
at Danvers, Massachusetts. This building, constructed about 1800, was
purchased about 1812 by Captain Joseph Peabody, a Salem merchant, and
grandfather of the present owner, as a place of refuge for himself and
family during the embargo. In design, it is most imposing, and the front
now shows a wide veranda, with the entrance dignified by a
porte-cochere, supported by high columns, between each two of which a
great bay tree is set. Sweeps of smooth lawn afford an attractive
setting, and great trees, here and there, bestow protecting shade. The
dwelling is surrounded by beautiful gardens, the most interesting from a
historic point of view being the old-fashioned posy plot laid out at the
time of the erection of the house.
[Illustration: PLATE III.--Middleton House, Bristol, R. I. Built about
1808.]
Not unlike in type to this fine home is "Hey Bonnie Hall" in Rhode
Island, the residence of the Misses Middleton. Built in 1808, it stands
to-day in all its original beauty, the pure white of its exterior
admirably set off by the great green sweeps of sward, dotted with fine
trees, that surround it on all sides. It was erected from plans of
Russell Warren, who designed the White House at Washington, and it is
renowned not only for its beautiful colonial architecture, but also for
the wonderful collection of old-time furniture and objects of art that
it contains.
In type, it is very similar to a Maryland manor, with projecting wings,
the service portion in a separate building connected with the main house
by a covered passage, after the Southern fashion. In this passage is the
well room, so called from the fact that a well of pure spring water is
located here. In length the house is one hundred and forty feet, its
front just enough broken to avoid monotony, and its spaciousness
affording an air of comfort. Two Corinthian columns, as high as the
house itself, support the roof over the entrance porch, and on either
side are well-protected verandas, overlooking beds of old-fashioned
flowers and smooth stretches of sward. In front lies the harbor, and
beyond is the picturesque town of Bristol, affording a most pleasing
prospect.
[Illustration: PLATE IV.--Indian Hill Farm, West Newbury, Mass. Begun
soon after 1650.]
Unlike these latter-day types, in fact unlike any set design, is the
low, rambling house at West Newbury, Massachusetts, known as Indian
Hill, and so called from the location that it occupies. In appearance,
this dwelling is most picturesque, resembling in design a castle, and it
is as historic as it is interesting. The site that it occupies is the
last reservation of the Indians in the neighborhood, the land having
been sold by Old Tom, the Indian chieftain, to the town, and the deed of
the sale being still preserved by the present owners.
Viewed from any angle, the house presents a series of pictures, each
equally as interesting as the other, and its irregular roof lines,
gables and bays, quaint, diamond-paned windows, and chimneys adorned
with chimney pots, are further embellished by the flowering vines of a
rambler rose, perhaps the finest in the country. While the house can be
seen from the road, it is only when one drives under the archway into
the courtyard, bounded on three sides by barn, stables, and house, that
he can realize its true worth.
[Illustration: PLATE V.--Andrew House Doorway, 1818.]
Salem, fortunate in specimens of early construction, is also fortunate
in examples of latter-day types, and here are to be found several of the
fine brick dwellings, built at the time of her greatest commercial
prosperity. One of these is the Andrews house, located on Washington
Square, and one of the three dwellings erected in 1818. Its brick
exterior gives no hint of its age other than the softening dignity that
time bequeaths, and it stands to-day, tall and broad, its gray-faced
bricks brightened by white trimmings, and its beauty emphasized by a
fine circular porch supported by white columns, topped with a high
balustrade. At one side is a charming old-fashioned garden, laid out in
prim, box-bordered beds, and all about its fence inclosure flowering
vines clamber. Complete, the dwelling cost forty thousand dollars,--a
large sum for the time of its erection.
Every brick used in its construction was first dipped into boiling oil
to render it impervious to moisture, and all the framework is of timbers
seasoned by long exposure to the sun and rain. On one brick is cut the
date of erection, the work of the master builder under whose supervision
the dwelling was erected. The great pillars of the side porch,
overlooking the garden, are packed, so the story goes, with rock
salt--not an uncommon process at that time--to keep out dampness and to
save the wood from being eaten by worms.
Some years previous to the erection of this dwelling, Mr. Nathan
Robinson had constructed on Chestnut Street a brick dwelling, considered
by connoisseurs to be one of the finest specimens to-day extant. The
porch, at the front, is wonderfully fine, and has attracted the
attention of any number of students and architects, who have made a
careful study of it.
And so we might go on and on, singling out particularly good specimens
here and there, but when all is said and done, it is undeniable that all
old houses afford interesting study. Architects of the present are
coming to appreciate their worth, and into many modern homes features of
early construction are being incorporated. Naturally, to the
antiquarian, nothing can ever take the place of these bygone specimens,
and as he paces the main thoroughfares of historic cities, now lined
with stores, he sees in fancy the stately homes with their fragrant
garden plots, which modern demand has superseded. Pausing on the curbing
near the old State House in Boston, what an array of bygone dwellings in
fancy can be conjured, and how many of the old-time dignitaries can be
recalled. So vivid is the picture that one might almost expect to see
old Thomas Leverett saunter by, or perchance hear the rattle of wheels
as the carriage of Dr. Elisha Cook lumbered on its way. It is a pleasant
picture to contemplate, and the lover of the old breathes a sigh of
regret at the passing of such picturesqueness.
CHAPTER II
COLONIAL DOORWAYS
No type of architecture to-day holds such a distinctive place in the
minds of architects and home builders as does that of the colonial
period. This is especially true concerning the porch or doorway, for
this feature, affording as it does entrance to the home, called for most
careful thought, that it might be made harmonious and artistic, and
expressive of the sentiment which it embodies. The straight lines and
ample dimensions which characterized it required skill to arrange
properly, and, considering the limitations of the period in which it was
constructed, the results obtained were remarkable.
These porches and doorways were designed at a time when our country was
young, and the builders were not finished architects like the designers
of to-day; but they were planned and built by men who were masters in
their line, and who taxed their skill to the utmost that results might
be artistic and varied, individualizing each home so that the entrance
porch should express both hospitality and refinement.
In the holds of the cumbersome ships that plied between the new country
and the motherland were placed as cargoes, pillars, columns, and bits of
shaped wood, all to be used in the construction of the new home, and
incidentally in the porch. It was no easy task to devise from these
fragments a complete and artistic whole, and to the ingenuity of the
builders great credit is due.
In contour and construction, these porches differ greatly. Those found
in New England depict a stateliness that savors of Puritanical
influence, while those in the South convey, through their breadth, an
impression of the cordiality which is characteristic of that section.
Some are semicircular, others square; a few are oblong, and some are
three-cornered, fitting into two sides of the entrance, and in each case
giving to the dwelling a congruous appearance that is refreshing to
contemplate in an age like ours, when so many different periods are
combined in a finished whole.
All these porches show a harmony of form and proportion that gives just
the right effect, and many are embellished by wonderful wood carving.
The Grecian column, in its many forms, lends itself in a great degree
to artistic effects, often bestowing an originality of finish that is
most pleasing, and one that differs in every respect from the modern
broad veranda, and the stately porte-cochere.
The art of hand carving reached its highest state of perfection about
the year 1811, during which period the best types of porches were
erected. The results are shown not only in the capitals of the columns
and on the architrave, but on the pediments and over the entrance door
as well. A good example of the decoration of the architrave is seen on
the old Assembly House on Federal Street, in Salem, Massachusetts, where
the carving takes the form of a grapevine, with bunches of the hanging
fruit, and also over the door of the Kimball house, in the same city,
where Samuel McIntyre, one of the most noted wood carvers, lived.
It can be well and correctly said that the colonial porch embodied not
only the characteristics of the period in which it was built, but the
personality of the owner as well. Should the unobservant person feel
that this statement is far-fetched, let him take a stroll through some
tree-shaded street of an old New England village, and the truth of the
assertion is readily revealed. Though the house itself may be old and
battered, and fast falling into decay, yet the porch greets one with a
simple welcome that breathes of former hospitality, and, in admiration
of this feature, the shabbiness of the rest of the exterior sinks into
oblivion.
Broadly speaking, porches are divided into three types or classes. The
first belong to the period beginning with the year 1745 and continuing
until the year 1785, a space of time marked by stirring events,
culminating in the Revolutionary War, and the birth of the new republic.
Houses of this period are of the gambrel-roofed type. The second class
adorn the succeeding type of dwelling,--the large, square, colonial
house, built by the merchant prince, whose ships circumnavigated the
globe, and who filled his home with foreign treasures; while the third
type is that which ornamented the brick mansion which came into vogue
about 1818. As many of these were erected during the commercial period,
they cannot, strictly speaking, be called colonial; they belong rather
to the Washingtonian time, and reflect in their construction the
gracious hospitality of that day.
Porches of varied colonial types are found in most of the New England
cities and towns, in the Middle States, and in the South, and
particularly fine examples can be seen in Salem, Massachusetts. There
is about all of these a dignity and refinement that is unmistakable,
bespeaking a culture that is felt at once, and a stranger wandering
through Salem's streets cannot help but be impressed with the fact.
Adorning the three-storied houses with their flat roofs, they give an
artistic touch to what would otherwise be plain exteriors. From step to
knocker, from leaded glass to the arched or square roof of the doorway,
there is a plainness and simplicity which betokens art, but of such a
quiet, unpretentious type that by the untrained eye it is hardly
appreciated, though to the architect it brings inspiration and affords
study for classic detail, the result of which is shown in the modified
colonial homes of to-day.
Romance and history are strangely intermingled in these old-time porches
and doorways. Under their stately portals has passed many a colonial
lover, doffing his cocked hat to his lady fair, who, with silken gown,
powdered hair and patches, sat at the window awaiting his coming. Those
were Salem's halcyon days, when the tide of life ebbed and flowed in
uneventful harmony, free from the disturbing elements of latter-day
life.
To attempt even a brief description of each and every doorway would be a
herculean task. Rather, it is better to depict the different types,
studying with critical eye the various examples. One is the semicircular
entrance, with its rounded front, a type shown in many a New England
home. The Andrew porch, numbered among the finest in the city, belongs
to this class. Under this doorway passed the late war governor, John
Andrew, during visits to his uncle, John Andrew, builder of the
dwelling, that he always coveted for his own. The dwelling was one of
three built in 1818 on three sides of a training field, which is now the
Common. The fine elm trees that characterize the Common were planted in
the same year. The other two houses were the John Forrester dwelling and
the Nathaniel Silsbee house. The Andrew porch shows straight columns,
and a roof topped with a balustrade; the simplicity of outline renders
it most attractive.
[Illustration: PLATE VI.--Gardiner House Doorway, 1804.]
Another porch of the same type is that of the John Gardiner house on
Essex Street, built in 1804. Here is an entrance considered by good
judges of architecture to be one of the best examples of its type,
characterized by perfect symmetry of outline. Numbered among its
features are quaint indentations in the door head. This dwelling was
formerly the home of Captain Joseph White, one of the worthy and noted
Salem merchants. Other porches of similar contour, though differently
ornamented, are to be found on Chestnut Street.
[Illustration: PLATE VII.--Nathan Robinson House Doorway, 1804.]
It is only when one carefully studies doorways such as these,
contrasting them with latter-day porches, which are often little more
than holes in the wall, fitted with a cheap framing and entirely out of
keeping with the exterior, that their worth is viewed in the true light,
and the opportunity to turn to the old-time types for inspiration is
appreciated.
Perhaps the most Puritanical of all the doorways are the simple narrow
ones that generally stand at one side of the house, although sometimes
they are used as the main entrance. These show either fluted side
pilasters, or severely plain columns, surmounted by a pediment. The door
is always dark in coloring, trimmed with a polished brass knocker and
often with a brass latch.
One of the most elaborate of these is that of the dwelling known as the
Cabot house on Essex Street. This house was designed in 1745 by an
English architect for Joseph Choate, and later came into the possession
of Joseph Cabot.
Another notable entrance is that of the Lord house on Washington
Square. This is a side entrance, and is said to be one of the finest of
its type in Salem. This house was at one time occupied by Stephen White,
a man of worth, who was falsely accused of the murder of his uncle, and
who engaged as counsel Daniel Webster. While this case was in progress,
Webster brought his son, Fletcher, to the White home, where he met and
fell in love with the daughter of the house, later making her his bride.
Thus were romance and law strangely intermingled! The house was
afterwards the home of Nathaniel Lord, one of the most brilliant jurists
of his time.
The inclosed porch is another phase of old Salem doorways. There are
several interesting examples of this type still to be seen here, perhaps
the most noted being the one on Charter Street, on a three-story, wooden
building, about a century and a half old, low of stud, with square
front, standing directly on a shabby little by-street, and cornered in a
graveyard. This porch, inclosing the entrance door, is lighted by small,
oval windows, one on either side, affording glimpses up and down the
street. It has been graphically described by a silent, dark-browed man,
who, with two women, came to the dwelling in the dusk of an evening in
1838, and, lifting the old-time knocker, announced his arrival. The door
was opened by Elizabeth Peabody, who graciously admitted Nathaniel
Hawthorne and his sisters, showed them into the parlor, and then ran
up-stairs to tell her sister Sophia of the handsome young man--handsomer
than Lord Byron--who had just arrived. As the door closed behind him
that evening, Hawthorne shut out forever the dreary solitude of his
life, and we read that he came again and again to the old home, where he
played the principal part in one of the most idyllic of courtships,
ending in his marriage two years later with the fair Sophia. This
dwelling he made the scene of _Dr. Grimshawe's Secret_, and the old
porch has taken on a dignity and historic interest that will live
forever.
But perhaps one loves to dwell longest on the doorway of the Assembly
House on Federal Street, for it is full of vivid memories. It is an
oddly shaped porch, beautifully carved, and under its portals the
daughters of Salem's merchant princes passed, holding in their slender
hands the skirts of their silken gowns, as they gayly mounted the broad
stone steps. On the evening of October 29, 1784, Lafayette was
entertained in this old home, and five years later, Washington, who had
just been inaugurated as the first President of the United States, came
here. Concerning his visit, he wrote in his diary: "Between 7 and 8 I
went to an Assembly, where there were at least a hundred handsome young
ladies." With one of these, the daughter of General Abbot, Washington
opened the ball, and for her later, as he did not dance, he secured as a
partner General Knox.
Other types of porches still seen in Salem include the Dutch porch,
quaint and comely in its construction, an excellent example of which is
seen on the Whipple house on Andover Street, while surrounding the
Common on Washington Square are many rare and picturesque porches of
various dates of erection.
Considered by experts to excel them all is the porch that adorns the
Pierce-Jahonnot house on Federal Street. This dwelling was erected by
Mr. Pierce, of Pierce and Waitte, merchants, in the year 1782, and
beside the main entrance it boasts a fine example of the narrow doorway
at one side. In the early spring, crocuses clustering about the base of
the porch add a touch that is decorative and charming, and the
box-bordered garden beds, just in front, filled with masses of pure
white bloom, complete a wholly delightful setting. There is about this
particular doorway a touch of sentiment felt by every Salemite. It is a
piece of architecture of which any one might feel proud, and in its
beauty and dignity it stands distinctive in the midst of many fine bits.
It is the Mecca of architects, who delight in the exquisite blending of
doorway and entrance.
There is a touch of the old Witchcraft Days connected with a doorway at
Number 23 Summer Street, that resembles in type the one immortalized by
Hawthorne. More than two hundred years ago, this porch was the site of
an event that culminated in tragedy. Bridget Bishop, the first victim of
the terrible delusion of 1692, kept a tavern here, and in her gay
light-heartedness, she scorned the dictates of the church and insisted
upon wearing on Sabbath Day a black hat and a red paragon bodice,
bordered and looped with different colors. Her boldness in defying the
rigid doctrines made the dignitaries suspicious of her, and at her
trial, when one witness told of meeting her before the site of the
present doorway where his horse stopped, and the buggy he was driving
flew to pieces,--she of course having bewitched it,--was condemned to
death.
Individual types found throughout the city show a variety of
construction and ornamentation, and many of these are most unique,
although they do not belong to any special period. Prominent among these
is the Pineapple doorway on Brown Street Court, an excellently
proportioned and finely adorned entrance, which, through the remoteness
of its location, is rarely seen by tourists. The dwelling of which it is
a part was built in 1750 by Captain Thomas Poynton, and this feature,
unlike the old Benjamin Pickman porch on Essex Street, which shows a
codfish, has nothing about it suggestive of New England. The pineapple,
which is set in a broken pediment, was brought over from England in one
of the captain's own ships, and in the days of his occupancy it was kept
brightly gilded, its leaves painted green.
Many of the doorways show an innovation in the presence of the climbing
vine, which winds its tendrils about the pillar supports, emphasizing
their beauty. It is not definitely known whether the early owners
encouraged the vine-covered porch or not, but they probably did, as they
delighted in the vine-covered summer-house, which was a feature of
nearly every old-time garden.
While Salem may hold a prominent rank in attractive porches, many fine
examples are to be found in Philadelphia, and though these specimens
differ radically in design, they are most attractive. One is to be seen
on Independence Hall on Chestnut Street, while others are found on
churches and houses.
These doorways illustrate a phase of architectural construction totally
different from the porches of New England and those of the South, yet
they combine features of the other types, while at the same time
displaying a certain definite style of their own which gives to them as
great distinctiveness as characterizes Salem porches.
If the twentieth-century architect desires studies of truly attractive
doorways, the seaport towns of New England will afford him excellent
models. There is enough variety here in porches which are still
preserved to give him any number of models from which to devise an
entrance that will serve its purpose in every sense of the word.
For the home builder, it will not be amiss to carefully consider the
best type of porch before he goes to the architect to develop his plans;
he can be assured that study will develop ideas that will give to his
home an individuality that will embody his ideas and personality.
CHAPTER III
DOOR KNOCKERS
There is no more decorative feature of the entrance door than the
old-time door knocker, especially if in conjunction with it are used a
latch and hinge. It possesses a dignity and charm that is most
attractive, and when shown in brass, brightly burnished, it forms a most
effective foil for the dark or polished surface of the wood.
Door knockers have been in use, save for short periods during the
seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, since their invention, early in
the world's history, although they were most freely used during the
Romanesque, the Gothic, and the Renaissance periods. For easy
identification they may be divided into three classes, the first
characterized by a ring, the second by a hammer, and the third by human
figures and animals' heads. The first two types show a much larger
surface of plate than the third, and the designs employed are often most
elaborate.
Door knockers in use during the Medieval period were perhaps the most
carefully designed, while those of the Renaissance period showed the
most fanciful treatment. It must be remembered, when considering the
ornamental qualities of both these types of knockers, and comparing them
with latter-day productions, that they were made at a time when
designers were practically unknown, artists being employed to draw
patterns which were worked out by assistants under the supervision of
master smiths, which method resulted in a greater diversity of
treatment.
Iron was at first used in the construction of knockers, partly on
account of its inexpensiveness, and the results secured from this
seemingly ugly material were both artistic and beautiful. Later, brass
came into favor for the purpose, and it has since remained the principal
knocker material, as no better substitute has been found. Brightly
polished, a brass knocker undeniably adds to the decorative
attractiveness of any door.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, knockers were used on all
classes of houses. These for the most part were very elaborate in
design, showing a wonderful delicacy of workmanship, and they were in
many instances larger than those found on modern colonial homes.
Except for the period during the seventeenth century, as above
mentioned, door knockers remained in favor until the middle of the
nineteenth century, when a wave of modernity, sweeping the length and
breadth of the land, brought in its wake an overthrow of colonial ideas
and furnishings. Modern doors, plain of surface, replaced the finely
paneled old-time ones, and with their coming disappeared the knocker and
the latch. Probably the principal cause of this was the demolition of
many of the old landmarks, and the substitution of dwellings of an
entirely different architectural type. This innovation for a second time
consigned the knocker to oblivion, and many there were who, not
realizing its artistic value, cast it into the scrap heap. Others, with
a veneration for heirlooms, packed the knockers away in old hair trunks
under the eaves of the spacious attic, together with other antiques of
varying character.
No doubt the greatest number were saved by the wise and far-sighted
collector, who, realizing the artistic beauty of the knocker, felt that
it would in time come to its own again. Quietly he purchased them and
stored them away, awaiting the day of their revival, and his foresight
was amply repaid when the modified colonial house came into vogue,
demanding that the knocker should again be the doorway's chief feature.
Many of those now shown are genuine antiques, while others are
reproductions, but so carefully copied that only to one who has made a
study of antiques is the difference discernible.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--16th Century Knocker, Lion type, Striker of
first type; Georgian Urn type, in use on modern house; Mexican Knocker
of the Hammer type; Hammer type Knocker, 18th Century, Charles P. Waters
House.]
Old door knockers vary as to size according to the date of their
construction. Many are of odd design, having been made to fit doors of
unusual shapes, and the ornamentation is as varied as the shapes. The
most elaborate knockers depict such ideas as Medusa's head, Garlands of
Roses, and, in many cases, animals' heads, while the simple ones show
oval or plain shapes, with border decorated with bead or fretwork.
[Illustration: PLATE IX.--Eagle Knocker; Eagle Knocker, Rogers House,
Danvers, Mass.; Medusa head, elaborate early type; Garland type of
Knocker.]
The shape of the knocker is of great assistance in classification, as is
the metal used. The most common type has the striker round or
stirrup-shaped. This is either plain or ornamented with twisted forms,
with wreathing or masks, and the plate is formed of a rosette or lion's
head.
In the second type, the striker is hammer-shaped, the handle often
showing a split and straplike formation, while the plate and knob are
plain. This is an early type, as is shown from the fact that specimens
still exist that are not unlike Byzantine and Saracenic forms. It is
to this type that the exquisite iron-chiseled knockers of Henry II and
Louis XIV belong.
The lyre or elongated loop drawn down to form the striker constitute the
third style. Masks, snakes, dragons, and human figures belong to this
class, and, on account of the elaborate workmanship employed, these are
often found in brass and bronze. This type shows ornamentation lavished
on the striker, while the plate is very plain.
The greatest difference noted in all these classes is that in the third
type the escutcheon or plate by which the knocker is fastened to the
door is of little importance, while in the first two types it is the
leading motive.
During the Gothic period, the design was diamond-shape, richly decorated
with pierced work, and while this same motif was retained in the making
of the Renaissance knocker, it was frequently varied by the
double-headed or some similar style.
What is correct concerning the design of the Medieval knocker holds good
in that of to-day. No door knocker ever designed was ugly, even at the
time of the earliest manufacture, when so little was known concerning
architectural construction. There is a fine individuality in the style
of all knockers, and singularly enough one fails to find duplicates of
even the most admirable specimens. Another fact that seems strange is
that reproductions often sell for as much as genuine antiques. It would
seem that the price of the old knocker would be high, on account of its
historical value, and yet this type of knockers sells at a lower price
than present-day specimens. Old brass examples can be purchased as low
as two dollars and fifty cents, while large and elaborate ones bring
only ten dollars. This is not on account of their true value not being
known, but because there is, as yet, comparatively little demand for
them; and their sale at the best is limited, for where a person could
use twenty candlesticks, two knockers would suffice for door
ornamentation.
There is an important phase of the copied specimens that must be taken
into consideration, and that is that they have no historic value. This
fact has made reproductions of no appeal to either the collector or the
antiquarian, unless there is some special interest in the model from
which they have been copied.
Whether a knocker is a reproduction or a genuine antique can often be
told by examining the plate and noting if it is forged to the ring or
flat plate. If so, it is a fine piece of workmanship and a genuine
antique; otherwise, it is spurious.
The best place to purchase genuine old knockers is in the curio shops,
where only such things are for sale. Even in this event, it is well to
know the earmarks, for if one is anxious for a real antique, he should
be posted on the characteristics, as a spurious specimen is apt to find
its way even here.
The door knockers in general use to-day are the Georgian urn or vase,
the thumb latch, and the eagle. Such designs as Medusa's head, and the
head of Daphne with its wreath of laurel leaves are also sometimes
found.
The lion with ring has always been more popular in England than in our
country, and, indeed, during the Revolutionary War and for fifty years
after, it was not even tolerated here, being superseded by the eagle,
which came into vogue about 1775.
The garland knocker, which belongs to the early type, is still sometimes
found to-day. One such specimen is shown on a modern colonial home at
Wayland, Massachusetts. This originally graced the doorway of one of
Salem's merchant prince's homes, but it was purchased by a dealer in
antiques at the time of the decline in favor of the knocker, later
finding its original resting place, from which it has only recently been
removed.
Another rare and unusual knocker is shown on a house on Lynde Street,
Salem, Massachusetts. This is of Mexican type, and has been on the house
since its erection. It was painted over some years ago by an owner who
cared little for its worth, and it was not until a comparatively short
time ago that it was discovered to be a fine example of a rare type.
The horseshoe knocker, a specimen of the hammer class, is a prized relic
of many old homes. Like all true colonial specimens, it is made of
wrought iron, painfully hammered by hand upon the forge in the absence
of machinery for working iron, as even nails had to be hammered out in
those early times. This is one of the quaintest and most original
knockers, and is after the pattern of the earliest designed. Subsequent
specimens were more elaborate, colonial craftsmen bestowing upon them
their greatest skill. Among the most ornate were the purely Greek or
Georgian vases or urns, eagles in all possible and impossible positions,
heads of Medusa, Ariadne, and other mythological ladies, and Italian
Renaissance subjects, such as nymphs, mermaids, and dolphins, with
ribbons, garlands, and streamers.
Not a few of these knockers have wonderfully interesting histories.
Scenes have been enacted about them, which, could they be but known,
would make thrilling tales. Take, for instance, the knocker on the
Craigie House at Cambridge, Massachusetts. How many men of letters from
all over the world have lifted the knocker to gain admittance to our
late loved poet's home, and think what stories such visits could
furnish!
On the Whittier homestead at Amesbury, Massachusetts, is still to be
seen the knocker which was on the door during the poet's life. This is
of eagle design, probably chosen on account of its patriotic
significance. Another interesting knocker formerly graced the house
wherein the "Duchess" lived, on Turner Street, in Salem, many times
lifted by Hawthorne, who was a frequent visitor to this dwelling, and
who forever immortalized it in his famous romance, _The House of Seven
Gables_. This is now replaced by another of different design.
Considered to be one of the oldest knockers in this section is that on
the door of the May house at Newton, Massachusetts. Be that as it may,
it is certainly unique. The plate shows a phoenix rising from the
plain brass surface, while the knocker has for ornamentation a Medieval
head. This knocker has attracted the attention of antiquarians
throughout the country, who have given it much study in attempts to find
out the period in which it was made.
Thumb latches are not so common as the hammer and ring class. Two of
these specially unique show wonderful cutting. One is found on the front
door of the Waters house on Washington Square, Salem, being brought from
the John Crowninshield dwelling, while the other is seen on the side
porch of this same residence, having been placed there at the time of
the building's erection in 1795.
England is the seat of most of the old-time knockers, although they are
still found in almost every part of the globe. Threading the narrow
by-streets of London, one finds many historic specimens replaced by
simple modern affairs. Some have become the prey of avaricious tourists,
while others, because of their owners' little regard for their value,
have been relegated to ash heaps and thrown away.
This is true of the knocker made famous by Dickens in the _Christmas
Carol_. On the polished surface of this, Scrooge was said to have
thought he saw reflected the face of Marley "like a bad lobster in a
dark cellar." Later he spoke of it as follows: "I shall love it as long
as I live. I scarcely ever looked at it before. What an honest
expression it has in its face. It is a wonderful knocker." Clasped hands
holding a ring of laurel is the form of the knocker still seen on the
door of the famous Dr. Johnson house, and, as one gazes at it, he can in
fancy see David Garrick and Sir Joshua Reynolds ascending the steps, and
if he pauses a moment longer he can no doubt even hear the metallic ring
of the knocker, as it responds to the vigorous raps that they give.
The most beautiful knocker left in London is the one shown on the outer
gate of the Duke of Devonshire's house at Piccadilly. The design here,
as unique as it is beautiful, shows an angelic head with flowing hair.
Chapels and cathedrals in England have many examples of this type of
door decoration, one being a knocker handle with pierced tracery seen on
Stogumber Church in Somerset.
The history of door knockers is practically unwritten, and little is
known concerning their make. The revival of antiques is responsible for
their present popularity, and gives them an importance in house
ornamentation little dreamed of a few years ago. To be sure, the coming
of electric bells has precluded their necessity, but, on account of
their ornamental value, it is doubtful if they ever become obsolete. The
variety of design, the many artistic shapes to which they can be
adapted, and, more than all, their decorative qualities, make them
particularly valuable.
CHAPTER IV
OLD-TIME GARDENS
There was a restful charm and dignity surrounding the garden of olden
times that is lacking in the formal ones of to-day. This effect was
gained partly from the prim box borders and the straight, central path,
and partly from the stateliness of the old-fashioned flowers. Gardens
formed a distinctive feature in the colonists' home grounds, from the
time of their landing on unknown soil. At first they were very small,
and consisted mostly of wild flowers and plants that had been brought
from their homes in England and Holland. The early settlers brought with
them to this new land a deep love for floriculture, and the earliest
garden plots filled with flowering plants, though rude in construction,
saved the house mother many a heartache, reminding her as they did of
the beautiful gardens in the motherland left behind.
We find in the earliest records of the new settlers allusions to
flowers, and Reverend Francis Higginson speaks of the wild flowers which
he saw blossoming near the shore. He considered them of enough
importance to record in his diary on June 24, 1629, writing "that wild
flowers of yellow coloring resembling Gilliflowers were seen near the
shore as they sighted land, and that as they came closer they saw many
of these flowers scattered here and there, some of the plots being from
nine to ten feet in size."
Four of the men who went ashore on the twenty-seventh of that month
found on the headlands of Cape Cod single wild roses. Later on he tells
again of the number of plants found growing, giving their names. These
facts have enabled people in later years to locate the same flowers
growing near the same places as when they were first discovered.
Governor Bradford also considered the flowers of importance, and in his
historical account of the Colonies of New England, he tells us that
"here grow many fine flowers, among them the fair lily and the fragrant
rose."
On Governors Island in Boston Harbor were rich vineyards and orchards,
as well as many varieties of flowers. Governor Winthrop, inserting a
clause in the grant, said that vineyards and orchards should be planted
here; that this was complied with is shown from the fact that the rent
in 1634 was paid with a hogshead of wine.
Following the growth of colonist gardens, we find that John Josslyn
arrived in Boston four years later, in 1638, and that soon after his
arrival he visited his brother's plantation in Black Point, Maine. He
made a careful list of plants that he found here, each one of which he
carefully described and sent in part to England, and it is interesting
to note that in those days, the colonists in the spring gathered
hepaticas, bloodroot, and numerous other wild flowers.
His description of the pitcher plant is graphic: "Hollow leaved lavender
is a plant that grows in the marshes, overgrown with moss, with one
straight stalk about the bigness of an oat straw. It is better than a
cubic high, and upon the top is found one single fantastic flower. The
leaves grow close to the root in shape like a tankard, hollow, tight,
and always full of water." The whole plant, so he says, comes into
perfection about the middle of August, and has leaves and stalks as red
as blood, while the flower is yellow.
Mr. Josslyn also speaks of the fact that shrubs and flowers brought from
England and Holland by the Puritans as early as 1626 were the nucleus
of old-fashioned gardens, and that woadwaxen, now a pest covering acres
of ground and showing during the time of blossoming a brilliant yellow,
was kept in pots by Governor Endicott, while the oxeye daisy and
whiteweed were grown on Governor Endicott's Danvers farm.
He also tells us of the gardens with "their pleasant, familiar flowers,
lavender, hollyhocks, and satin." "We call this herbe in Norfolke
sattin," says Gerard, "and among our women, it is called honestie and
gillyflowers, which meant pinks as well, and dear English roses and
eglantine."
The evolution of the garden commenced at this time, and from then until
fifty years ago the old-fashioned garden was in vogue. There was much
sameness to this kind of garden; each one had its central path of
varying width, generally with a box border on either side, while inside
were sweet-smelling flowers, such as mignonette, heliotrope, and sweet
alyssum. Vine-covered arbors were the central feature, and at the end of
the walk stood a summer-house of simple proportions, sometimes so
covered with trailing vines as to be almost unseen.
It was here on summer afternoons that our grandmothers loved to come for
a social cup of tea, knitting while breathing in the sweet-scented air,
permeated with the fragrance of single and double peonies, phlox, roses,
and bushes of syringa. Tall hollyhocks swayed in the breeze, holding
their stately cups stiff and upright, and there were tiger lilies, as
well as the dielytra, with its row of hanging pink and white blossoms,
from which the children made boats, rabbits, and other fantastic
figures.
In some of the old-time gardens, the small, thorny Scotch roses
intermingled with the red and white roses of York and Lancaster. Little
wonder that the perfume of their blooms was wafted through the air,
although they were hidden among the taller roses, and there was no
visible trace of their presence.
One walked along the broad sidewalks of the old-time cities, expecting
to find at every turn a garden of flowers. Not even a glimpse did they
obtain, for the gardens of those days were not in view, but hidden away
behind high board fences which have now in many cases been changed for
iron ones, thus giving to the public glimpses of the central arbor and
the long line of path with brilliant bloom on either side.
One reason that the gardens in the olden days were hidden from view was
that the houses, more especially the Salem ones, were built close to the
sidewalk, and there was no chance for flowers in front or at either
side.
[Illustration: PLATE X.--Whittier Garden, Danvers, Mass.]
[Illustration: PLATE XI.--Peabody Garden, Danvers, Mass.]
Most of the noted old gardens have long since become things of the past,
but a few are still left to give hints of the many that long ago were
the pride of New England housewives. The estate of the late Captain
Joseph Peabody at Danvers, Massachusetts, was at one time famed for its
old-fashioned garden. This lay to the right of the avenue of trees that
formed the driveway to the house. These trees were planted in 1816 by
Joseph Augustus Peabody, the elder son of the owner. The garden proper
was hidden from view, as one passed up the driveway, but lay at the
front of the house. In its center was a large tulip tree, which still
stands, said to be one of the oldest and largest in the country. One of
the unique features of the grounds, and one that has existed since the
days of Captain Peabody's occupancy, is a small summer-house, showing
lattice work and graceful arches. Its top is dome-shaped, surmounted by
a gilded pineapple.
There is, however, another historic summer-house on this estate. It was
formerly on the Elias Hasket Derby property, and was built about
1790. This was purchased by the present owner of the estate, who had it
moved to her grounds, a distance of four miles, without a crack in the
plaster. It was built by Samuel McIntyre, and is decorated with the
pilaster and festoons that are characteristic of his workmanship. Four
urns and a farmer whetting his scythe adorn the top. Originally a
companion piece was at the other end, representing a milkmaid with her
pail. This latter figure was long ago sold by the former owner and
placed with a spindle in its hand on the Sutton Mills at Andover,
Massachusetts, where it stood for many years until destroyed by fire.
The house itself contains a tool room on the lower floor, while at the
head of the staircase is a large room, sixteen feet square, containing
eight windows and four cupboards. It is hung with Japanese lanterns, and
the closets are filled with wonderful old china. Its setting of flowers
is most appropriate.
At Oak Knoll in Danvers is still left the garden that the poet Whittier
so much loved. It stands at the side of the house, bordering the avenue
that leads from the entrance gate. The paths have box borders, and
inside is a wealth of bloom, the central feature being a fountain which
was a gift from Whittier to the mistress of the home. It was here he
loved to come during the warm summer afternoons to pace up and down,
doubtless thinking over and shaping many of his most noted poems. The
garden has been carefully tended, and it shows to-day the same flowers
that were in their prime during his life.
Another fine example of a box-bordered, old-time garden is seen at
Newburyport, Massachusetts, on the estate of Mrs. Charles Perry. Here
the colonial house stands back from the main road, with a long stretch
of lawn at the front. Passing out of the door at the rear, one comes
upon a courtyard with moss-grown flagging that leads directly to the
garden itself, fragrant with the incense of old-time blooms.
At Indian Hill, the summer home of the late Major Benjamin Perley Poore
at West Newbury, much care has been given to the gardens to keep the
flowers as they were in the olden days. A feature of this estate, in
addition to the gardens, is a shapely grove of trees at the rear of the
mansion, that took first prize years ago as being the finest and
best-shaped specimens in the county. Many of these trees were named for
the major's friends, and they bear names well known to New Englanders.
More than a century ago, when Salem was the trade center of the world,
her gardens were renowned. These gardens were at the rear of the
dwellings, and it was here that the host and his guests came for their
after-dinner smoke, surrounded by the flowers that they loved.
The first improvements in garden culture were made by one George
Heussler, who, according to Captain Jonathan P. Felt, came to America in
1780, bringing with him a diploma given him by his former employers.
Previous to this period he had served an apprenticeship in the gardens
of several German princes, as well as in that of the king of Holland,
and was, in consequence, well qualified for the work. The first
experience he had in America in gardening was at the home of John Tracy
in Newburyport, where he worked faithfully for several years. Ten years
afterwards he came to Salem to take charge of the farm and garden of
Elias Hasket Derby, Senior, at Danvers, and later worked in other
gardens in the city of Salem, where he lived until his death in 1817.
From the records we glean that on October 21, 1796, Mr. Heussler gave
notice that he had choice fruit trees for sale at Mr. Derby's farm,
while a newspaper of that date informs us that the latter gentleman had
recently imported valuable trees from India and Africa and that he had
"an extensive nursery of useful plants in the neighborhood of his rich
garden." His son, E. Hersey Derby, had a garden of great dimensions at
his estate in South Salem, or, as it was then called, South Fields. This
was in 1802, and for a long time the fame of this rare and beautiful
garden was retained.
Both of the Derby gardens were worthy of attention, and it is said by
those in authority that in the Derby greenhouse the first night-blooming
cereus blossomed. This was in 1790, and the flower was the true _cereus
grande flora_, not the flat-leaved cactus kind that is now cultivated
under that name. It was largely the influence of the beautiful Derby
gardens that gave to Salem its impetus for fine garden culture.
Who knows how many romances have been enacted in the old-fashioned
gardens of long ago! They were fascinating places for lovers to wander
and in their vine-clad summer-houses many a love-tale was told. The
sight of an old-time garden recalls to-day the early owners, and in
imagination one can hear the swish of silken skirts as the mistress of
the home saunters down the central path to take tea with friends in her
beloved arbor. There were warm friendships among neighbors in those
days, and the summer season was marked by a daily interchange of visits;
and so the old-time garden is fraught with memories of bygone
festivities and perchance of gossip.
After the close of commerce, the Derby Street houses, formerly occupied
by the old merchants, gradually became deserted, and new houses were
sought in different parts of the town, farther removed from shipping
interests. Chestnut Street was the location of many of these new homes,
and here the beautiful old-fashioned gardens were shown at their best.
These were usually inclosed, and were reached by a side door, opening
directly into a veritable wealth of bloom.
Among the extensive gardens cultivated here was a smaller one containing
a greenhouse. This was owned by John Fiske Allen. Mr. Allen was an
ardent lover of flowers, and was always interested in adding some new
and rare specimen to his collection. From Caleb Ropes in Philadelphia he
purchased seed of the _Victoria Regia_, the water lily of the Amazon.
These plants blossomed for the second time in our country on July 28,
1833, the grounds being thronged with visitors during the time of their
blossoming. This fact was called to the attention of William Sharp, who
had illustrations made for a book on the subject. The following year an
extension was made to the greenhouse, and more seed was planted, which
had come from England, and, in addition, orchids and other plants were
grown.
The Humphrey Devereux house stands almost directly across the street
from the Allen house. This garden, under the care of the next owner,
Captain Charles Hoffman, became famous, for here the first camellias and
azaleas in this country were planted. One of the former plants is still
seen in a greenhouse in Salem. Captain Hoffman had a well-trained
gardener, named Wilson, whose care gave this garden a distinctive name
in the city. This garden is now the property of Dr. James E. Simpson,
and it shows like no other the direct influence of olden times. There is
the same vine-clad arbor for the central figure, and the plants which
are grown behind box borders are the same that grew in our grandmothers'
time. This scheme has been carefully carried out by the mistress of the
house, who is passionately fond of the old-time blossoms.
In the garden of the Cabot house on Essex Street, the first owner of the
house imported tulips from Holland, and, during the time of their
blossoming, threw open the garden to friends. The later owners improved
the garden by adding rare specimens of peonies and other plants, and
have kept the same effects, adding to the gardens' beauty each year.
While the old-fashioned garden has gone into decline, yet the modern-day
enthusiast has brought into his formal gardens the flowers of yesterday.
The artistic possibilities of these have appealed so strongly to the
flower lover that they have been restored to their own once more. The
box border is practically a thing of the past, having been replaced by
flower borders of mignonette and sweet alyssum, which afford a fine
setting for the beds. Like pictures seem these old-fashioned gardens,
framed with thoughts of days long gone by, and one unconsciously sighs
for those days that are gone, taking with them the sweet odor of the
flowers that grew in our grandmothers' time.
CHAPTER V
HALLS AND STAIRWAYS
The colonial hall as we have come to think of it--dignified and
spacious, with characteristics of unrivaled beauty--was not the type in
vogue in the first years of the country's settlement, but rather was the
outgrowth of inherent tendencies, reflecting in a measure the breadth
and attractiveness of the English hallway.
The earliest dwellings were built for comfort, with little regard for
effect, and they showed no hallways, only a rude entrance door giving
directly upon the general and often only apartment. Sometimes this door
was sheltered on the outside by a quaint closed porch, which afforded
additional warmth and protection from the driving storms of rain or
snow; but it was never anything more than a mere comfort-seeking
appendage, boasting no pretentions whatever to architectural merit.
Crude, indeed, such entrances must have seemed to the stern Puritan
dwellers, in comparison with those of their ancestral abodes; and it
is not to be wondered at if in secret they sometimes longed for the
hallways of their boyhood, where, after the evening meal in the winter
season, the family was wont to gather about the roaring fire, perchance
to listen to some tale of thrilling adventure.
The first American hall came in with the building of the frame house,
erected after the early hardships were over, and the colonists could
afford to abandon their rude cabin domiciles. This was really little
more than an entry, rarely characterized by any unusual features, but it
served as a sort of introduction to the home proper, and was dignified
by the title of hallway. The hall in the old Capen house at Topsfield,
Massachusetts, belongs to this type.
[Illustration: PLATE XII.--Saltonstall Hallway, about 1800.]
Later came the more pretentious hall, typical of the gambrel roof house,
that enjoyed so long a period of popularity. This was generally a narrow
passage, with doors opening at either side into the main front
apartments, and with the staircase at the end rising in a series of
turns to the rooms above. The first turn often contained in one corner a
small table, which held a candlestick and candle used to light a guest
to bed, or a grandfather's clock, the dark wood of its casing serving
as an effective contrast to the otherwise light finish of the apartment.
Not infrequently the hall was solidly paneled, and a built-in cupboard
or like device was sometimes concealed behind the paneling; or, as in a
dwelling in Manchester, Massachusetts, it contained an innovation in the
form of a broad space opened between two high beams, halfway up the
staircase, arranged, no doubt, for the display of some choice
possession, and showing beneath a motto of religious import.
[Illustration: PLATE XIII.--Hallway, Lee House, 1800.]
In the better class of houses of this period, the hallway sometimes
extended the width of the dwelling, opening at the rear on to the yard
space. This type was the forerunner of the stately attractive hall that
came into vogue in the last half of the eighteenth century, and
continued in favor during the first years of the nineteenth century,
with the advent of the wooden and brick mansion.
Belonging to the earlier class are the Warner and Stark halls in New
Hampshire. The former is paneled from floor to ceiling, the white of the
finish now mellowed to ivory tones, and serving to display to advantage
the fine furnishings with which it is equipped. At the rear it opens
upon a grassy yard space, shaded by tall trees, thought to be the site
of the old slave quarters, long since demolished. The walls show several
adornments, among the most interesting being the enormous antlers of an
elk, which, tradition tells, were presented to the builder of the
dwelling by some of the Indians with whom he traded, as an evidence of
their friendship and good will. The latter hall is of similar type,
entered through a narrow door space and continuing the width of the
dwelling; it ends at the rear in a quaint old door that shows above its
broad wooden panels a row of green bull's eyes, specimens of early
American glass manufacture, still rough on the inside where detached
from the molding bar. This door gives upon an old-time garden plot,
fragrant with the blooms of its original planting, and preserving intact
its early features. Rare bits of old furniture are used in the equipment
of this hall, and the paneled walls are hung with family portraits.
When unwearied toil had made living considerably easier, and many of the
merchants had amassed fortunes, there sprang up, in both the North and
the South, those charming colonial mansions that were the fit abode of a
brave race. They demanded hallways of spacious dimensions, and into
favor then came the broad and lofty hall, embodying in its construction
the highest development of the colonial type. Quite through the center
of the house this hall extended, from the pillared portico and stately
entrance door, with its fan lights and brazen knocker, to another door
at the rear, through the glazed upper panels of which tantalizing
glimpses could be obtained of tall hollyhocks and climbing roses growing
in the old-fashioned garden just without.
[Illustration: PLATE XIV.--Hallway, Tucker House, about 1800.]
In a measure this hall was a reproduction of the English type,
particularly in its spaciousness of dimension. Unlike this type,
however, it lacked the dominant influence of the fireplace, and in its
construction it showed several independent features, all tending to
emphasize the attractive dignity suggested in the broadness of outline.
Often an elliptical arch spanned the width at about one third the
length, generally serving to frame the staircase, and tending to make
dominant the attractiveness of this feature. This was usually little
more than a skeleton arch, being a suggestion, rather than a reality,
sometimes plain, and sometimes slightly ornamental. This feature is
shown in the Lee hall at Salem, and in the main hall of the old Governor
Wentworth house at Little Harbor, New Hampshire. This latter hall is
particularly interesting, not only for its beauty of construction, but
also for its historic associations. Under its arch, framing the fine old
staircase, men prominent in the history of the State and country have
passed, and on the walls and over the door are still seen stacks of
arms, thirteen in number, the muskets of the governor's guard, so long
dismissed.
[Illustration: PLATE XV.--Hallway, Wentworth House, 1750.]
The most important feature of all these halls was the staircase, and in
its construction the greatest interest was centered. Generally it
ascended by broad, low treads to a landing lighted by a window of
artistic design, and continued in a shorter flight to the second floor
apartments. It was always located at one side, and generally near the
rear, to allow the placing of furniture without crowding. The balusters
were usually beautifully carved and hand turned, with newel posts of
graceful design; and sometimes even the risers showed carved effects.
The cap rail was usually of mahogany. Hard wood was sometimes used in
the construction of the staircase, the treads in this event being dark
and polished, while soft wood painted white was also much used.
The finish of the walls in this type of hall varied. Some were entirely
paneled, others showed a quaint landscape paper above a low white
wainscot, and still others showed hangings of pictorial import, framed
like great pictures. To the last-named class belongs the Lee hall at
Marblehead, considered to be one of the finest examples of its type
extant. Black walnut is the wood finish here, and the hangings, designed
by a London artist, are in soft tones of gray, beautifully blended, and
represent scenes of ruined Greece, each set in a separate panel,
handsomely carved.
Occasionally, to-day, a staircase of the spiral type is found,--a type
that possesses certain satisfying characteristics, but which never
enjoyed the popularity of the straight staircase. Some few of the
staircases in the old Derby Street mansions at Salem are of this type,
as is the staircase at Oak Knoll, in Danvers, the poet Whittier's last
residence. The common name for this type of staircase was winder.
A large number of representatives of the finest type of the colonial
hall are scattered throughout the North and South, and their sturdiness
of construction bids fair to make them valued examples indefinitely. One
particularly good example is shown at Hey Bonnie Hall, in Bristol, Rhode
Island, a mansion built on Southern lines, and suggesting in its
construction the hospitality of that section. Here the hall is twenty
feet wide; the walls are tinted their original coloring, a soft rich
green, that harmonizes perfectly with the white woodwork and the deep,
mellow tones of the priceless old mahogany of the furnishings. A
well-designed, groined arch forming a portion of the ceiling, and
supported at the corners by four slender white pillars, is one of the
apartment's attractive adjuncts, while the dominant feature is the
staircase that rises at the farther end, five feet in width, with treads
of solid mahogany and simple but substantial balusters of the same wood
on either side. The upper hall is as distinctive as the lower one, and
exactly corresponds in length and width. Wonderful old furnishings are
placed here, and at one end is displayed a fine bit of architectural
work in a fanlight window, overlooking the garden.
One wonders, when viewing such a hall as this, how this type could ever
have been superseded in house construction, but with the gradual decline
in favor of the colonial type of dwelling, it was abolished, and in
place of its lofty build and attractive spaciousness, halls of cramped
dimensions came into vogue, culminating in the entry passage typical of
houses built toward the middle of the nineteenth century. Happily,
present-day house builders are coming to a realizing sense of the
importance of the hallway, and are beginning to appreciate the fact
that, to be attractive, the hall must be ample, well lighted, and of
pleasing character. With this realization the beauty of the colonial
hall has again demanded attention, and in a large number of modern homes
it has been copied in a modified degree.
CHAPTER VI
FIREPLACES AND MANTELPIECES
It is a far cry from the fireplaces of early times to those of the
present, when elaborate fittings make them architecturally notable. We
read that in the Middle Ages, the fire in the banquet hall was laid on
the floor in the center of the large apartment, the smoke from the
blazing logs, as it curled slowly upward, escaping through a hole cut in
the ceiling. Later, during the Renaissance period, the fire was laid
close to the wall, the space set apart for it framed with masonry jambs
that supported a mantel shelf. A projecting hood of stone or brick
carried the smoke away, and the jambs were useful, inasmuch as they
protected the fire from draughts. From this time, the evolution of the
fireplace might be said to date, improvement in its arrangement being
worked out gradually, until to-day it is numbered among the home's most
attractive features. It is interesting to note, in reference to these
latter-day specimens, that many of them are similar in design to those
of the Renaissance, Louis Sixteenth, and colonial periods.
Not a few of the early fireplaces were of the inglenook type, a fad that
has been revived and is much in evidence in modern dwellings; and many
of them followed certain periods, such as the Queen Anne style and the
Elizabethan design. Several, too, were topped with mantels, features
practical as well as ornamental, which are almost always associated with
the fireplaces of to-day. Many of the old mantels were very narrow,
prohibiting ornamentation with pottery or small bits of bric-a-brac;
they were so built, because the designers of early times considered them
sufficiently decorative in themselves without any additional
embellishment, and their sturdiness and architectural regularity seem to
justify this opinion. Mantels and fireplaces of early Renaissance type
show in detail an elegance that is characteristic of all the work of
that period, the Italian designers being masters in their line.
In the baronial halls of Merrie England, we find huge fireplaces, wide
enough to hold the Yule log, around which, after the chase, the
followers gathered to drink deep of the wassail bowl. Such pictures must
have lingered long in the minds of the colonists in their new
surroundings, and to us they are suggestive of the Squire in "Old
Christmas," who, seated in his great armchair, close by the fire,
contentedly smoked his pipe and gazed into the heart of the flickering
flames, filled with the joy of his ancestral possessions.
[Illustration: PLATE XVI.--Historic Fireplace at Ipswich, Mass.]
Life with the early colonists was a stern reality. The climate here was
far more rigorous than that of the motherland, and a home and a warm
fire were the two necessities first demanded. Logs from the near-by
forest afforded the former, while rocks taken from the clearings
supplied the latter. The fireplaces of those days were perhaps the
largest ever built in any land, some ten feet or more in depth, and
broad enough to hold the logs which were stacked just outside the cabin
door. The rude stones which formed the fireplace were piled wall
fashion, the largest at the bottom and the smallest on top, the chinks
between made strong by daubings of clay. Later, the builders gave a more
finished effect to this feature, and the hearths were then extended many
feet into the single large apartment, while on either side were placed
rude, home-made benches with high backs, to shield the inmates from the
cold felt outside the circle of the fire's warmth.
[Illustration: PLATE XVII.--Old Fireplace in Wentworth House,
Portsmouth, N. H.]
At the rear of the fireplace was arranged a huge backlog, to afford
protection to the stones, and also to throw the heat into the room. This
was often of unseasoned timber, that it might last the longer, two feet
in diameter, and eight feet or more in length. Firedogs were used to
hold the smaller logs, while creepers were employed for the smallest of
all, and to start the fire, small pine boughs and small timbers were
heaped high, flint and tinder serving to ignite them. Once started, the
fire was kept indefinitely, being carefully covered at night or piled
with peat; above the blaze swung the soot-blackened crane, with its
various pots and kettles. Such was the early colonial kitchen, the
fireplace its dominant feature, the light from its glowing logs throwing
into relief the sanded floor, bare, unplastered walls, and the rafters
overhead. With the coming of prosperity, these rude log huts gave way to
timber houses, two stories in height, and with their advent the better
type of colonial fireplaces came into vogue.
[Illustration: PLATE XVIII.--First Hob Grate in New England, Waters
House; Mantel Glass and Fireplace, showing decoration of floral basket.]
Dating as far back as the earliest fireplaces are found fire sets, as
they were sometimes called, comprising the hearth accessories necessary
for an open fire. The oldest of these sets, which were in use long
before coal was burned as fuel, consisted usually of a pair of
andirons, a long-handled fire shovel, and a pair of tongs. In some cases
more than one set of andirons was included, for in the great, cavernous
fireplaces of the colonists' log cabins, the high supports used for the
heavy forestick and logs were not suitable for the smaller wood, and
creepers had to be set between the large andirons to hold the short
sticks in place. Bellows were often found beside the fireplace in those
times, but the poker was rarely if ever included in fire sets, previous
to the introduction of coal as a fuel.
In material and design these fire sets, particularly the andirons,
differed widely. Iron, steel, copper, and brass were the metals most
commonly used for their construction, although in other countries even
silver was occasionally made into fire irons. As for design, they ranged
from the very simplest and most unpretentious styles up through the
quaint dogs' heads to the grotesque figures and elaborately wrought
pieces to be found among good collections of antique hearth accessories.
Andirons for kitchen use were as a rule very plain and substantial.
Sometimes they were merely straight pieces supported by short legs and
having uprights of either plain or twisted metal, topped by small knots
of some sort. They were probably most commonly made of iron, and not a
few were rudely hammered and shaped on the pioneer blacksmith's anvil.
It is consequently little to be wondered at that many of the andirons
once used in colonial kitchens give one the impression of having been
designed for strength and utility rather than for ornament.
The better class of andirons in use during the seventeenth and early
part of the eighteenth centuries were for the most part of graceful,
but, at the same time, simple and dignified designs. The finest ones
were of brass, which was kept brightly polished by the energetic
housekeeper. Short knobs or uprights were often placed a few inches back
of the main uprights and served the double purpose of holding the
forestick in place and of protecting the shining brass. Occasionally
andirons were made in rights and lefts with the shanks curving outward
from the short knobs where they joined the straight, horizontal
supports.
[Illustration: PLATE XIX.--Middleton House Steeple Top Andirons, and
Bellows; Southern Andirons, Atkinson Collection.]
Among other popular andiron designs of this period were the twisted
flame, the urn topped, the queer iron and brass dogs with claw feet, the
colonial baluster, and the steeple topped. Of these, the steeple-topped
andirons were perhaps the rarest, while the colonial baluster pattern
with ball tops was, without doubt, the most popular and commonly used.
A good example of the style of andirons which came into favor during the
latter half of the eighteenth century is found in the Hessian design.
They take their name from the fact that the upright of each iron is cast
in the form of a Hessian soldier, posed as if in the act of marching.
Since this particular pattern first made its appearance immediately
after the close of the American Revolution, it is not difficult to
comprehend its significance, for it is a well-known fact that the
patriotic colonists heartily hated the hired allies in the employ of
King George of England who had fought against them. This humbling of the
Hessian to service among the flames and ashes, although only in effigy,
seemed to afford the Americans a great deal of satisfaction, if the
great popularity of these andirons stood for anything.
Probably no finer collection of colonial hearths is to be found anywhere
than in Salem. The Derby Street mansions even now show wonderful bits of
the skill which has made Salem a name synonymous of the best in the
architectural world. McIntyre designed many of these, following in some
cases the style of the decorator, Adams. Many of the mantels show a
wonderful harmony of contour, capped by a simple shelf, for the most
part unadorned. One such is seen in the Gove house on Lynde Street, its
straight, simple lines affording dignity and grace that are most
attractive. The decoration is the head of Washington, fixing the period
of its construction about the time of the Revolution.
Other popular decorations were the eagle, which came into favor at the
same period as the Washington decoration, baskets of flowers,
wonderfully delicate in their carving, garlands, and many such designs,
in all of which McIntyre shows a versatility that, considering the
limitations of his day, is truly remarkable.
While many of the mantels were of wood, some few were of marble. Two
such of special interest are to be found, one in the Thomas Sanders's
house on Chestnut Street, and the other in Hon. David M. Little's
residence on the same thoroughfare. The former shows an exquisite
design, supported on either side by caryatids, gracefully carved; and
the latter, of the same period, is practically of the same design. A
third marble mantel is found in the home of the Salem Club, formerly the
residence of Captain Joseph Peabody. This mantel is of Florentine marble
and was imported by the captain in 1819. It is particularly beautiful
in its finish, and has served as an inspiration for many similar mantels
to be found in New England.
Belonging to the early type is the quaint fireplace found in the hallway
of the Robinson house on Chestnut Street. This apartment was formerly
the kitchen, and the fireplace in its original condition was discovered
in the process of remodeling. Upon investigation, it was found to be a
composite of three separate fireplaces, built one within the other, and
culminating outwardly in a small grate; and when opened, it showed
portions of the old pothooks. It was restored to its original aspect,
appearing to-day as it was first constructed, its narrow mantel adorned
with rare bits of pewter.
In what was formerly the home of Mrs. Nathaniel B. Mansfield in Salem,
is a curious mantel, which was first owned by Mr. Fabens. It is one of
the rarest bits of McIntyre's work, decorated with his best wrought and
finest planned carving. Another fine mantel is in the home of Hon.
George von L. Meyer at Hamilton, Massachusetts. This is as historic as
it is beautiful, and was part of the original equipment of the
Crowninshield house in Boston.
Many of the later style fireplaces, more especially of the better class,
showed firebacks. These were of iron, and were designed to keep the
back of the fireplace from cracking. Some of these old firebacks had
flowers for ornamentation, while others showed decoration in the form of
family coats-of-arms. In the Pickering house on Broad Street, Salem, is
a quaint fireback which was made in the first iron foundry at Saugus,
now Lynn. This has on the back the initials of the then owners of the
dwelling, John and Alice Pickering, inscribed as follows, "J. A. P.
1660." This same Alice Pickering was very fond of dress, and an old
record of 1650 tells that she wore to church a silken hood. For this
offense she was reprimanded and brought before the church, but was
allowed to go when it was learned that she was worth two hundred pounds.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, fireplaces had come to be
considered of great decorative importance, and in an account written in
1750 Isaac Ware says of them: "With us no article in a well-furnished
room is more essential. The eye immediately falls upon it on entering
the room, and the place for sitting down is naturally near it. By this
means it becomes the most prominent thing in the furnishing of the
room."
The popularity of the fireplace was somewhat checked in 1745 through the
invention of the Franklin stove, which immediately came into favor.
These stoves were constructed of iron, with trimmings of rosettes and
railing and knobs of varying size; in appearance they were very similar
to the small, open fireplace with andirons for burning logs. As heat
producers, however, they were a decided improvement over the old-time
hearth, which in many cases smoked abominably, and sent much of the heat
up the chimney instead of into the room. The new stoves proved
economical, and there was but little waste of heat through the pipes
connecting them with the chimneys.
In the dining room of Harriet Prescott Spofford's house at Newburyport
is one of these stoves, before which Whittier delighted to sit during
his frequent visits to this old home. It is a fine specimen of its kind,
and as interesting in its way as the quaint room which it graces. For
many years this dwelling served as an inn, kept by one Ebenezer Pearson,
being one of the favorite resorts for pleasure parties, and in the
old-time dining room much brilliant parrying of wit took place, as
distinguished visitors amiably chatted over their teacups.
Later in the eighteenth century, another form of heating came into
vogue. This was the fire frame, which appeared about thirty years after
the invention of the Franklin stove, and in type was something of a
compromise between the open fireplace and the stove, possessing certain
characteristics of each. It was so arranged that it could be used in a
fireplace that had either been filled in with brick, or finished with a
fireboard, and in appearance was very similar to the upper part of a
Franklin stove. Unlike the stove, however, it rested directly upon the
fireplace hearth, instead of being raised from the floor.
When coal first came into use, a Salem man saw it burn, and so impressed
was he with its worth that he told Dr. George Perkins of Lynde Street
about it. The doctor immediately ordered a barrel of the fuel to be
brought down in a baggage wagon from Boston, and he also ordered a
new-fangled stove of the hob grate order. The trial took place in the
living-room of his home, and the neighbors gathered to watch it burn. So
great was the success of the venture that a load of coal was ordered,
and it landed at the North River wharf, where the water was then so deep
that vessels could easily come to pier there. The cargo consisted of
from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and seventy tons, considered
an enormous load at the time.
The first coal burned in a stove was in Wilkes-barre, Pennsylvania,
where Judge Jesse Fell, in the main room of the old tavern, in February,
1808, started the first coal fire. Previous to that time coal had been
burned in open forges, under a heavy draught, by a few blacksmiths, but
it had never been adapted for household purposes, and the discovery that
it could be used changed it from a useless thing to something of great
value.
In 1812 Colonel George Shoemaker discovered coal in the Susquehanna
Valley, and he took twelve tons of it to Philadelphia to sell. He
disposed of two tons, but was compelled to give the rest away, as people
considered him a fraud, proving that the use of coal was not general at
this period.
The hob grate came into use in 1750, a few years after the advent of the
Franklin stove, and it proved especially valuable for the burning of
coal, when that product became popular. At first it was known as "Cat
Stone," but later was called hob grate, by which name it is known at the
present time.
Fenders of brass or iron were generally used with these grates, a small
one placed close to the fire to prevent the ashes from falling over the
hearth, and a larger one arranged around the entire fireplace. Although
hob grates were popular in Northern houses, they were much more
frequently used in the South.
Tiles were little used in America until the hob grate era, when they
seem to have come into vogue. They were used to surround both hob grates
and Franklin stoves. Some of them showed decorations of religious
subjects, while others, like a set in a Salem house, told in pictures
the story of AEsop's Fables. There is a tiled fireplace still in
existence in the Saltonstall-Howe house at Haverhill, Massachusetts, a
dwelling originally owned by Dr. Saltonstall, the first medical
practitioner in the city. This fireplace, in the dining-room, shows a
double row of tiles, depicting a series of Scriptural events, and it is
equipped with a fender of ancient hammered brass, a family heirloom. The
date of the fireplace can be definitely determined without knowledge of
the time of the erection of the house from the fact of the absence of a
mantel above. Another similar fireplace adorned with quaint Dutch tiles
is shown in the Pickering house living-room. Like the Saltonstall one,
this fireplace has a beautiful, ancient fender of brass and a pair of
bellows that were made by Rev. Theophilus Pickering, a preacher in
Essex, Massachusetts, who succeeded the Rev. John Wise.
The first hob grate ever placed in a Salem home is to be seen in the
Waters house on Washington Square. It is topped with one of McIntyre's
famous mantels, showing that the original fireplace was brought down to
be used with the grate.
Elias Hasket Derby, one of Salem's most famous merchants, had a
beautiful estate where Market Square now stands. The house, which was a
marvel of elegance, stood in the center of the square, surrounded with
terraced gardens that swept to the water's edge. After his death the
house was too large and elegant to be kept up, and it was torn down and
the land sold. The timbers of the house, the wood carving, and mantels
were purchased by Salem house owners, one hob grate finding its way to
the old Henry K. Oliver house on Federal Street. This dwelling, which
was built in 1802 by Captain Samuel Cook for his daughter, who married
Mr. Oliver, shows old-time fireplaces in many rooms, one of brass being
found in the parlor. This was the first of its kind ever placed in a
Salem home, and it has a grate, on either side of which are brass
pillars about three feet in height, with brass balls on top. A brass
band extends from pillar to pillar below the grate, and the fender is
also of brass. The mantel above is elegantly carved, and came from the
Elias Hasket Derby mansion.
A soapstone fireplace with grate is shown in the General Stephen Abbot
house on Federal Street, where General Abbot, who served under
Washington, entertained the latter during his visit to Salem. Behind
this fireplace is a secret closet, large enough to conceal three men,
where, during troublous times, slaves were hidden.
With the advent of the furnace, many beautiful fireplaces were closed
up, or taken away to be replaced by modern ones that lacked in every
respect the dignity and grace of the colonial specimens. Happily this
state of affairs was of short duration, and to-day the fireplace in all
its original charm is a feature of many homes. To be sure, it is now a
luxury rather than a necessity, but it is a luxury that is enjoyed not
only by the wealthy classes, but by those in moderate circumstances as
well, who appreciate the great decorative advantages of this feature.
Surely there is nothing more homelike than the warm glow of blazing
logs, and it is a delight to sit before the sputtering flames, and enjoy
the warmth and glow, as did our ancestors in the long ago.
CHAPTER VII
OLD-TIME WALL PAPERS
The records of many old-time features are scanty in detail, and, in
consequence, their meaning is differently and often wrongly interpreted.
Even one who has spent years in delving into the past secures facts that
differ materially from those obtained by some one else who has spent a
like time in research, and thus accounts of varying dependency are
propounded for reference. This is especially true in tracing the origin
of the old picture wall papers that, with the revival of colonial ideas,
are again coming into vogue.
One may prate about the papers of to-day, but they cannot compare either
in style or in effect with these early types, which show designs
patiently and carefully worked out by men who were masters of their
craft, and who, while lacking the advantages afforded the designers of
the present, nevertheless achieved results that have never been
surpassed. This fact is especially noteworthy, and it is wholly to the
credit of these old-time craftsmen that their products are to-day an
inspiration to architects and home builders who are seeking the best in
the way of interior decoration.
When wall papers first came into use is uncertain, for various
authorities with apparently good reason set different times. China
claims the honor of having originated them, as does Japan, while Holland
boasts the distinction of having first introduced them into other lands.
We know for a certainty that wall papers fashioned in strips three feet
long and fifteen inches wide were made in Holland centuries ago and
introduced into England and France, and latter-day specimens, of similar
type, are to be found in the homes of the colonists in our own land.
The printing of these decorative wall papers was at first done from
blocks, much as books were printed in early times. While it may not have
been block printing, a unique wall hanging of like type was to be seen
until within the last few years in a colonial house on Essex Street, at
Salem--the Lindall-Andrews dwelling, built in 1740 by Judge Lindall.
This wall paper, printed and hung in squares, adorned the parlor at the
left of the hallway, and before its removal a reproduction was made by
Bumstead for a descendant of the first owner to use on the walls of a
room in her summer home.
Dr. Thomas Barnard, minister of the First Church, who succeeded in
arranging for a compromise at the time of Leslie's Retreat, lived in
this dwelling during his pastorate, and on the walls of the hallway he
caused to have painted by one Bartol of Marblehead, father of Dr. Cyrus
Bartol, a series of wonderfully realistic pastoral scenes, that have
never been removed and are still to be seen, although their brightness
has been dimmed by time.
Pictorial wall paper did not come into general favor in Europe until the
eighteenth century, the period that marked the adoption of the long roll
still in vogue. To be sure, this type had been used much earlier by the
Chinese, but machinery for its fashioning was not invented until the
latter half of the eighteenth century. Up to this time, wall paper was
made in small squares and laboriously hung,--a fact that made it
expensive and accordingly prohibitive to all but the wealthy classes.
Jackson of Battersea in 1744 published a book of designs taken from
Italian scenes and bits of sculpture. These were pictures done as panels
and printed in oils, and resulted in the adoption of printed wall paper
throughout England. From that time on, as their cost grew less, wall
papers were extensively used in the motherland, which fact accounts for
the general adoption of this type of wall hanging by the colonists, as
the new land grew richer, and square, substantial homes were built.
In the early days of the colonies, there were few mechanics who were
able to furnish settings for the new homes, and consequently the home
builders were forced to depend on foreign lands for most of their
furnishings. Among these, wall hangings were not included, due partly to
the fact that there was no place for them in the rude cabins of early
times, and partly because they were not then in general use. Wall papers
were first brought to this country in 1735, though, owing to their
expensiveness, they were not used to any extent until many years later.
The frugal housewife preferred to paint the walls either in soft gray
tones, with a mixture of gray clay and water, or with yellow paint,
ornamented with a hand-painted frieze of simple design, often
supplemented by a narrow border stenciled above the chair rail. The
earliest examples of this work depicted the rose, the poppy, the violet,
or the pink, followed later by depictions of human interest, such as
Indians, wigwams, forest scenes, etc. This idea has been carried out in
the recently renovated Kimball house at Georgetown, Massachusetts, where
the mistress of the home has used for wall adornment hand-painted
friezes of soft-tinted flowers and emblematic designs.
Later, wall papers were brought here in quantities, and while a number
of these rare old hangings have been removed and replaced by others of
modern type, yet there are many left, each rich in memories of bygone
days. The stories connected with them will never be known, save the
legends which have been handed down from generation to generation, and
which the present grandames love to repeat, as they sit at twilight by
the open fire, and the roaring of the logs recalls to mind the olden
days.
Much of the wall paper brought here was made to order from accurate
measurements, and much was carefully selected in accordance with
previous instructions. Often special patterns were purchased for a new
home by a young lover, and into their selection went fond and happy
thoughts of the bride-to-be.
Even to this day one occasionally finds, stored away in some old attic,
rolls of priceless paper which had been brought here years ago and never
used. To the student and dreamer such a discovery is rich in
association, and even to the practical home maker it is fraught with
suggestions. There is something genuine about it, a touch of quaintness
and simplicity that, for lack of a more accurate term, we call colonial.
From one such attic, not so very long ago, were brought to light rolls
of rare old paper, which had been hidden away under the eaves for forty
years. Upon investigation this was found to be the Don Quixote pattern,
one of the three rarest types known, depicting the story of this quaint
character from the time of his leaving his home accompanied by his
faithful squire, Sancho Panza, to the time of his return, a sadder and
wiser man. The scenes are worked out in soft gray tones, wonderfully
blended, providing a harmonious and attractive ensemble.
On the walls of a third-story room in the Andrew house on Washington
Square, Salem, is shown a wonderful wall paper, representing an old-time
English hunt. In the first picture of the series the soft green of the
trees furnishes a contrasting background for the red coats of the
hunters who, on prancing steeds, with yelping hounds grouped about, are
ready for the start. Then follow the run over hill and dale, past
cottages where wondering peasants gape in open-mouthed admiration at the
brilliant train as it flashes by, and the bringing of the fox to bay,
ending with the luncheon upon the greensward, showing the huntsmen and
their ladies fair enjoying a well-earned repast.
[Illustration: PLATE XX.--Cupid and Psyche paper, Safford House.]
When this dwelling was first built, the parlor, at the right of the
hallway, was papered in a rare old hanging, that was removed when
defaced, the owners at the time giving little thought to its value. In
the room, since its erection, has hung a great, handsomely framed
mirror, occupying an entire panel space. Behind this mirror, a short
time ago, when the room was to be repapered, a panel of the first wall
covering was discovered, as distinct in coloring and detail as the day
it was placed there. It is one of twelve panels,--consisting of
twenty-six breadths each five feet seven inches long by twenty inches
wide, fifteen hundred blocks being used in its printing,--depicting the
marriage of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche's lack of faith, and the sad ending
of the romance, and is a pattern that is numbered among the most noted
designed. The panel found here has been preserved, and the old mirror
hung in place hides it from view.
Such papers are a keen delight to lovers of the colonial, for they
convey their meaning clearly and attractively in well-chosen and
harmonious coloring. Contrasted with present papers, depicting designs
figured or flowered, they show their worth, and it is little wonder that
architects have discovered their fascination, and are having old ideas
in new dress depicted on the walls of many modern dwellings.
The colonists understood harmony in home decoration, and their wall
hangings as well as their furniture were carefully chosen. They
purchased papers to suit their apartments, and the colors were selected
with a view to the best effect, so that the soft white of the woodwork
might be in keeping with their pictorial value. Consistency is the
keynote of the colonial interior, and it is this feature that has given
to homes of this type that touch of distinction that no other period of
architecture possesses.
[Illustration: PLATE XXI.--Venetian paper in Wheelwright House,
Newburyport.]
The old wall papers all represent foreign scenes, those of France and
England predominating, the latter in a greater degree than the former,
though the French papers were more highly finished than the English.
When the colonist became prosperous, and the newest fashions of the
motherland were eagerly copied, wall papers of both types were imported;
many of these are still preserved, showing shadings done by hand with
the utmost care, and colorings of lovely reds, blues, and browns, all
produced by the use of from fifteen to twenty sets of blocks.
[Illustration: PLATE XXII.--Roman Ruins paper, Lee Mansion, Marblehead.]
One of the most exquisite of French papers is shown in the Knapp house
at Newburyport, Massachusetts, built by a Revolutionary hero, at the
time of the erection of the Lee Mansion at Marblehead. This paper is
thought to have been fashioned in the first quarter of the nineteenth
century, and in type it is like that found on the hall of the
"Hermitage," Andrew Jackson's residence near Nashville, Tennessee. It is
produced in wonderful shades of soft green, red, peacock blue, and
white, all undimmed by time, and it represents scenes from Fenelon's
"Adventure of Telemachus," a favorite novelty in Paris in 1820.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIII.--Adventures of Telemachus paper, Nymphs
Swinging.]
Other fine examples of this type of paper, which have never been hung,
are still preserved in the home of Major George Whipple at Salem, having
been imported about 1800. These show different scenes, including
representations of gateways and fountains, with people in the
foreground.
Natural scenes were favorite themes with many designers, one such
example being a Venetian scheme still shown on the walls of the
Wheelwright house in Newburyport, a fine, colonial dwelling, built a
hundred years ago by an ancestor of William Wheelwright, whose energies
resulted in the first railroad over the Andes. This paper is found in
the drawing-room, and another, illustrative of a chariot race, is shown
in one of the chambers.
The Bay of Naples was another favorite theme with designers; in fact, it
was numbered among the best-liked subjects. Its faithfulness of detail
and exquisite coloring are no doubt responsible for this popularity, and
then, too, no other subject could better bear repetition. Other favorite
views were scenes of France, more particularly of Paris, and these types
were in great favor during Washington's administration and that of John
Adams, though later they lost caste.
The new landscape papers suggest the old ones, though they are unlike
them in tone and character, except in cases where specimens have been
taken as models and copied with faithful exactness. Such instances,
however, are rare. The best examples of old specimens of this type date
from twenty-five years prior to the Revolution up to about fifty years
afterwards.
Fine examples of such paper are still to be seen at the Lee Mansion at
Marblehead, now the home of the Marblehead Historical Society. These,
like many others, were made to order in England by accurate
measurements, proof positive of this fact being gleaned a few years ago
when the panel between the two windows in the upper hall was peeled off,
and on the back was found the following inscription, "11 Regent Street,
London. Between windows, upper hall." They are all excellently
preserved, and constitute probably the most remarkable set in America.
For the most part, they are done in gray, outlined in black, and depict
old Roman ruins, set like framed pictures, in alternation with strange
heraldic devices, like coats of arms. In some of the rooms the papers
are in sepia tones, showing castellated scenery, sailboats gliding over
lakes, and peasant figures loitering along the shore.
Another interesting wall paper is found at Hillsboro, New Hampshire, in
the home of Governor Pierce, father of Franklin Pierce, fourteenth
President of the United States, which is now used as an inn. The room
that it adorns is set apart, and the pattern depicts galleys setting
sail for foreign lands, while to the music of the harpsichord, the
gentry dance upon the lawn. In its prime this estate was one of the show
places of Hillsboro, with beautiful gardens surrounding the house, and
interesting features in the way of peacocks that proudly displayed
themselves to the gaze of admiring guests.
Unlike these old-time papers, and yet equally as distinctive, is the
wall covering in the hall of the Warner house at Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. This is a series of paintings, extending the length of the
staircase, and constituting the most unique wall adornment in the
country. Ever since the hall was finished, there has been displayed at
the staircase landing, in the broad spaces at either side of the central
window, life-sized paintings of two Indians, highly decorated and finely
executed, thought to be representations of fur traders of early times;
but the rest of the series was lost to view for a long time until about
sixty years ago, when the hall was repaired. During the process of
renovation, four coats of paper that had accumulated were removed, and
as the last coat was being torn off, the picture of a horse's hoof was
disclosed. This led to further investigation, and soon a painting of
Governor Phipps, resplendent in scarlet and yellow, seated on his
charger, was brought to light, followed by the representation of a lady
carding wool at a colonial spinning-wheel, who had been interrupted in
her task by the alighting of a hawk among chickens. Next came a
Scriptural scene, that of Abraham offering up Isaac, followed by a
foreign city scene, and several other sketches, covering in all an area
of between four and five hundred square feet. The entire paintings
to-day are presented in their original beauty, and they lend to the fine
hall an atmosphere of interesting quaintness.
But whatever their type, the old wall hangings are always attractive.
Sometimes it is the subject that most strongly appeals, again it is the
coloring, or it may be the effect, but in any event each and every one
serves the purpose for which it was intended, and a room hung with
old-time wall paper is undeniably beautiful, affording a setting that
modern effects rarely equal.
CHAPTER VIII
OLD CHAIRS AND SOFAS
There is a charm about old furnishings that cannot fail to appeal to all
lovers of the quaint and interesting, and a study of their
characteristics is a diversion well worth while. Old-time cabinet-makers
understood the value of bestowing upon details the same consideration
they gave main features, and, as a result, their work shows that harmony
that gives to it an interest not found in later types, and which, more
than anything else, has helped bring it into prominence in the equipment
of modern dwellings. While this is true of all colonial fittings, it is
especially true of the chair, for this article more than any other
depicts the gradual betterment of rudely formed beginnings culminating
in the work of the three master craftsmen, Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and
Sheraton, whose designs, even to-day, serve as an inspiration to
high-class cabinet-makers.
In the early days of the colonies, chairs were scarce appurtenances,
and the few used, generally not more than three in number in each home,
and known as forms, were very rudely constructed, being in reality
stools or benches, fashioned after the English designs then in vogue.
Later, these developed into the high-backed settles, which are so much
used in a modified form to-day.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIV.--Queen Anne, Fiddle Back; Queen Anne, stuffed
chair; Dutch Chair, carved; Empire Lyre-backed Roundabout on Chippendale
lines, 1825.]
By the middle of the seventeenth century, chairs had come into more
common usage, the type then in favor being strong and solid of frame,
with seat and back covered with durable leather or Turkey work.
Generally, the legs and stretches were plain, though sometimes the legs
and back posts were turned.
Specimens of the turned variety, which are the first seats that really
could be termed chairs, are very scarce to-day, the best examples being
found at Pilgrim Hall at Plymouth, in the home of Hon. John D. Long at
Hingham, Massachusetts, in the Heard house at Ipswich, Massachusetts,
and in the Waters collection at Salem, where one specimen shows a
covering which is a reproduction, having been fashioned to exactly match
in design and texture the original one it replaced when that one wore
out.
The year 1700 marked the introduction of the slat-back chair, which
enjoyed a long period of popularity. The number of slats at the back,
characteristic of this type, varied with the time of making, the first
specimens showing but two, while later types showed five. These chairs
were solid and strong of frame, and in Pennsylvania were made curved to
fit the back, affording a comfortable support. They included, in
addition to ordinary chairs, armchairs, and it was to an armchair of
this make that Benjamin Franklin affixed rockers, thus inventing the
first American rocking-chair and inaugurating a fashion that has never
waned in popularity. This first rocking-chair and its contemporaries,
which did not antedate the Revolutionary War by any great number of
years, had rockers that projected as far in the front as they did at the
back,--a peculiarity that makes them easily recognizable to-day. Later,
this objection was remedied, and the present type of rocking-chair came
into fashion.
[Illustration: PLATE XXV.--Chippendale, Lord Timothy Dexter's
Collection, H. P. Benson; French Chair, showing Empire influence;
Flemish Chair; Banister-back Chair.]
From 1710 to 1720 the banister-back chair was much used, though it never
enjoyed equal favor with the slat-back type. Instead of the horizontal
slats typical of the earlier model, the banister-back chair showed
upright spindles, usually four in number, and generally flat, though
sometimes rounded at the back. Its seat, like that of the slat back,
was of rush, and it was fashioned of either hard or soft wood, and
almost always painted black. One interesting example of this make is
found at "Highfield," the ancestral home of the Adams family at Byfield,
Massachusetts, having been brought here in the early days of the
dwelling's erection by Anne Sewall Longfellow, who came here the bride
of Abraham Adams, and who brought the chair herself from her old home
across the fields that divided the two estates, so that no harm would
befall it. It has been carefully treasured by her descendants, and
to-day occupies its original resting place by the side of the wide old
fireplace, where, on the night before the Battle of Bunker Hill, leaden
bullets used in that historic encounter were cast.
Slightly later than these types came the Dutch chair, sometimes severely
plain in design, and again pierced and curiously carved. One excellent
example of this model, formerly owned by Moll Pitcher, the famous
soothsayer of Lynn, who told one's fate by the teacup at her home at
High Rock, is now preserved in a Chestnut Street dwelling at Salem, and
shows the straight legs and straight foot of the best class of the
Dutch type, and the usual rush seat. Most Dutch specimens found their
way to Dutch settlements, though many were brought to New England direct
from northern Holland.
Easy chairs which came into style not long after the slat-back model,
proved the most comfortable type yet invented, and served as a welcome
variation from the straight and stiff-backed chairs up to that time in
favor. They were stuffed at back and sides, and covered with patch or
material of like nature. Owing to the amount of material which was used
in stuffing and covering them, their cost was considerable, varying from
one to five pounds, according to the style and quality of covering used.
The most common and popular chairs of the eighteenth century were those
of the Windsor type, manufactured in this country as early as 1725, and
deriving their name from the town in England where they originated. The
story of their origin is most interesting. The reigning George of that
day, the second of his name, saw in a shepherd's cottage a chair which
he greatly admired. He bought it to use as a model, thus setting the
stamp of kingly approval on this type, and bringing it into immediate
favor. It is not related what color he had his chairs painted, but
the general coloring employed was either black or dark green, though
some chairs were not painted at all. The finish of the back of this type
was varied to suit different fancies, some few having a comblike
extension on top as a head-rest, while others had a curved or bowlike
horizontal top piece, like a fan. These types originated the names comb
back and fan back, by which Windsor chairs of these types are known.
American manufacturers in general copied the English styles, though they
also developed several variations. Many American Windsors, particularly
the fan backs, are equipped with rockers, the date of their manufacture
coming after the Revolution.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVI.--Chippendale Arm Chair, showing straight,
square legs; Chippendale Chair; Chippendale, one of a set of six,
showing Rosette design; Chippendale Arm Chair with Cabriole legs, Ball
and Claw feet.]
But Windsor chairs, popular and fine as they were, by no means were the
best type developed in this century, for this period marked a great
change in the history of cabinet-making, resulting in the development of
wonderful designs, exquisitely blended and finished. First on the list
of the new master craftsmen was Chippendale, who in 1753 issued his
first book of designs, and whose models were given first consideration
for more than thirty years. Then, in 1789, followed Hepplewhite, and two
years later came Sheraton, while lesser lights, such as the Brothers
Adam, Manwaring, Ince, and Mayhew, all contributed their share to the
betterment of chair manufacture.
The chair seems to have been Chippendale's favorite piece of furniture,
and in its design he has blended the finest points in French, Dutch, and
Chinese patterns. His first chairs showed Dutch influence, and for these
he used the cabriole leg, greatly improving its curving, with the Dutch
or ball-and-claw foot, the latter more frequently than the former. His
chair seats were broad and flat, and in his backs he disregarded the
usual Dutch types, his uprights generally joining the top at an angle,
and his top piece being usually bow-shaped. His backs were a little
broader at the top than at the bottom, and he used the central splat
carved and pierced.
Next, his chairs showed Louis the Fifteenth characteristics, notably in
the splats, which were often handsomely carved and pierced. During this
time he produced his ribbon-back chair, though his best chairs, showing
this influence, were upholstered armchairs, with legs terminating in
French scroll feet. Later, he introduced in his chairs Gothic and
Chinese features, even though the backs still preserved the Dutch and
French features. Finally, the details of the several features became
much mixed, and at length resulted in a predominance of Chinese
characteristics. Most of his chairs were done in mahogany, which was a
favorite wood in his day, and his skill is especially displayed in the
wonderful carving which is typical of much of his work. Not only are his
chairs excellently proportioned, but they are so substantially built
that even to-day, after more than one hundred and fifty years' usage,
they show no sign of wear.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVII.--Empire Sofa; Cornucopia Sofa; Sofa in Adams
style, about 1800.]
Not a little of his work found its way to New England homes, many fine
specimens at one time gracing the dwelling of "Lord" Timothy Dexter,
Newburyport's eccentric character, who made his fortune by selling
warming pans to the heathen, who used the covers for scooping sugar, and
the pans for sirup. His home was filled with quantities of beautiful
furniture, including many excellent Chippendale chairs.
Hepplewhite, the second of the master cabinet-makers, succeeded
Chippendale in popular favor in 1789, and his furniture, while much
lighter and consequently less durable than that of his predecessor,
showed a beauty of form and a wealth of ornamentation that rendered it
most artistic. He employed not only carving of the most delicate and
exquisite nature, but inlay and painting as well, introducing japanning
after the style of Vernis-Martin work.
The shield or heart-shaped back is one of the characteristics of his
chairs, though he also used oval backs and sometimes even square backs.
They are all very graceful and delicate, with carved drapery, and many
of the shield-shaped type show for decoration the three feathers of the
Prince of Wales, Hepplewhite being one of the Prince's party when
sentiment ran strong during the illness of George III. Other decorations
employed by him were the urn, husk and ear of wheat. The wood he
generally used was mahogany, though occasionally he made use of painted
satinwood.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVIII.--Sheraton, mahogany frame, about 1800;
Sheraton with solid arms and straight, slender legs; Sheraton, about
1790. Note the graceful curve of the arms.]
Following close upon the heels of Hepplewhite came Sheraton, the last of
the three great masters in cabinet-work. His designs were delicate, but
strong, and generally his chair backs were firmer than those of
Hepplewhite. When he had exhausted other forms of decoration, he
indulged his fancy for brilliant coloring, mixing it with both inlay and
carving. Later he embellished his work with the white and gold of the
French style, finally employing features of the Napoleonic period,
such as brass mounts and brass inlay. His last seats show the
influence of the Empire type, which came into vogue in the early days of
the nineteenth century, and the curved piece which he brought in about
1800 served as a model for nearly a century, though it was not adorned
with the brass mounts that he had intended.
His greatest glory as a constructor lies in his skillful workmanship and
his excellent choice of woods,--satinwood, tulipwood, rosewood,
applewood, and occasionally mahogany, being his selection; and as a
decorator in the color and arrangement of his marquetry, as well as in
the fact that he never allowed consideration of ornament to affect his
work as a whole.
Among the chairs he fashioned was one that has come to be known in this
country as the Martha Washington chair, from the fact that a specimen of
this type was owned at Mount Vernon. Several excellent examples of his
chairs are found at "Hey Bonnie Hall," in Bristol, Rhode Island, one of
them being the chair in which John Adams is said to have died.
Chairs of all types are found in any number of old-time homes, those in
Salem being as representative as any, for to this old seaport more than
to any other, in proportion, rare furnishings were brought. Many of the
pieces are of historic interest, such as the old-time chair of Flemish
make, brought over in the ship _Angel Gabriel_, which was wrecked off
the coast of Maine; much of its cargo was recovered, including this old
chair, which was later brought to Salem in another ship. Another fine
old specimen is the armchair, for many years the prized possession of
Hawthorne, and an heirloom in his family, which he presented to the
Waters family, in whose possession it now is.
With the passing of Sheraton, Empire models held full sway, and, while
some of these were comfortable and graceful, the majority were massive,
stiff, and extreme in style. Early nineteenth-century chairs
manufactured in America are of this type, some of them of rosewood, some
of mahogany, and some painted, while many are of mahogany veneer.
But while chairs were the most common seats in the colonies, they were
not the only ones, for old-time homes were supplied with sofas as well.
To be sure, these did not come into use until many years after the
advent of the chair, the time of their appearance being about the year
1760; the majority shown are the work of the master cabinet-makers.
Sheraton models are those most commonly found here, though the earliest
specimens are of Chippendale manufacture, excellent examples of his work
being still found, many of them characterized by Louis XV features. A
special design of Chippendale's much in favor was "The Darby and Joan"
sofa, in reality a double seat, which model, as well as many others that
became very popular, was never shown in his catalogue.
[Illustration: Plate XXIX.--Sheraton, about 1800; Sofa, about 1820;
Sofa, about 1820, winged legs.]
Sheraton sofas came in vogue about 1800, their graceful designs and
handsome carving making them at once favorites. Many of these showed
eight legs, though later, when his designs became heavier and more
elaborate, only four legs were used. The coverings of these later
specimens were generally haircloth, fastened with brass nails.
The Brothers Adam also made some of the sofas found here, their designs
showing a peculiar slanting or curved leg which is known as the Adam
leg, and which is also characteristic of some of Sheraton's pieces.
About 1820 what was known as the Cornucopia sofa came into style, the
carving at the arms showing horns of plenty, which design was often
repeated in the top-rail, while the hollow made by the curve of the
decoration was filled with hard, round pillows, known as "squabs."
Contemporaneous with this type was the Empire sofa, with winged legs and
claw feet, often covered with haircloth. One example of this model,
exquisitely carved, is in the possession of a Salem family. But whatever
their type or characteristic, the old-time chair and sofa are
distinctive, and it is a tribute to their worth that in the equipment of
modern homes designers are reverting to them for inspiration. Likewise
it is with relief that we welcome them, after so long harboring the ugly
monstrosities that followed in favor the Empire types.
CHAPTER IX
SIDEBOARDS, BUREAUS, TABLES, ETC.
The present interest in antiques has brought into prominence the
old-time furnishings, and as a result ancient hiding places have been
forced to give up their treasures, and hitherto little appreciated
relics are now reinstated with all their original dignity. The architect
of the twentieth century is responsible in a great measure for this, for
in his zest to give to modern homes the best that could be afforded, he
has seen fit to revert to early types for inspiration; and with the
revival in favor of these specimens, genuine antiques have come to be
appreciated, and their value has correspondingly increased.
Included among these old-time pieces are chests, which in early days did
service for numerous purposes. In America they were first fashioned by
workmen who came to this country from foreign lands, through the efforts
of the first governor, John Endicott, many of them being employed on
plantations, where much of their work was done. These chests were made
of the wood of forest trees, which then grew so plentifully, and are
rude and simple in construction, in striking contrast to the rich,
hand-carved, mahogany chests, which many of the colonists brought from
the motherland, packed with their clothing, and which, later on, were
shipped here in large numbers. Old inventories frequently mention both
these types of chests, those manufactured here generally being spoken of
as "owld pine chests." They were principally used in the chamber and at
one side of the fireplace in the general room, the larger ones to hold
family necessities, such as the homespun clothing and anything else that
needed to be covered, while the smaller ones served as receptacles for
the skeins of wool from which the handy housewife fashioned the family
wearing apparel.
Such chests were an intimate part of the home life in those early times,
and viewing their quaintness it is not hard to picture the scenes of
which they were a part, when the house mother, in her homespun gown,
busily spun at her old clock wheel, drawing the skeins from the chest at
her side, while the little ones, seated on rude benches before the open
fire, carefully filled the quills for the next day's supply. Mayhap
the eldest daughter fashioned on the big wheel, under her mother's
guidance, her wedding garments, weaving into them loving thoughts of the
groom-to-be, while the song in her heart kept time to the merry whirr of
the wheel.
Of the larger type of the "owld pine chest" is the treasured specimen at
Georgetown, known for many generations as the magic chest, and so called
from the feats it is said to have performed in the early days of its
history, such as walking up and down stairs, and dancing a merry jig
when a deacon sat upon its lid. It stands to-day quiet and demure,
giving no hint of its former hilarious tendencies, though it is no
longer used for its original purpose,--the storing of meal for the
family use.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX.--Sheraton Night Table; Block Front Bureau
Desk, owned by Dr. Ernest H. Noyes, Newburyport, Mass.; Cellarette,
1700, owned originally by Robert Morris.]
With the betterment of financial conditions, the rude pine chests went
out of fashion, and in their stead beautiful hand-carved specimens were
brought from foreign countries. Many of these show exquisite coloring,
any number of examples being still preserved; sometimes they were placed
in the chamber, but more frequently on the landing at the head of the
stairs.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXI.--Dressing Glass with Petticoat legs; Empire
Bureau, 1816.]
Chests with drawers were in fashion as early as 1650, according to the
old records, many of them handsomely carved, and all showing little
egg-shaped pieces upon the drawers. Some of the finest of these old
chests are shown in the Waters collection at Salem. Generally they were
fashioned of oak, and a frequent characteristic was a lid on top which
lifted off, allowing for the packing of large articles, while the
drawers at the front were used for storing smaller things. Sometimes
chests are found constructed on frames, but not often. This type was
probably fashioned to hold linen, being the forerunner of the high chest
of drawers which came into vogue in the later days of the seventeenth
century. Up to some time after 1700, chests continued in general use,
though it is doubtful if they were made in any great quantity after
1720. The number of legs found on these chests varies with the time of
making, some showing six, while others have but four.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXII.--Chest of Drawers, 1710; Six-legged High
Chest of Drawers, about 1705.]
With the advent of the high chest of drawers, other woods than oak, such
as walnut and cherry, and later mahogany, became popular; the use of
these woods produced a marked change in chest designs, notably in the
massiveness of build. Many specimens of both types are found throughout
New England, one very fine example of the early type showing the drop
handle, which is a characteristic of the early chest, being included in
the Nathaniel B. Mansfield collection. Another of the later type, now in
the Pickering house, carefully stored away that no harm may befall it,
shows on one side the initials of Colonel Timothy Pickering, who used it
during his army days.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIII.--Dressing Table with Brass feet; Bureau and
Dressing Glass.]
Dressing tables were made to go with these chests, following the same
lines of design, though constructed with four rather than six legs.
These came to be designated as "lowboys" in distinction from the chests
mounted upon high legs, which were known as "highboys." Examples of both
were found in the old General Abbot house at Salem, until a few years
ago; while a highboy, showing bandy legs, a characteristic of the
earliest high chest, is a prized possession in the Benson home, also at
Salem.
Many highboys and lowboys show inlay work, one of the former, of English
manufacture, being found in the Warner house at Portsmouth, while
another, of different style, is shown in the Osgood house at Salem.
Lowboys were made to correspond with every style of the high chest, and
frequently they were constructed of maple, beautifully marked, after
the fashion of the chests made of walnut and cherry. Highboys sometimes
took the form of a double chest, showing drawers extending almost to the
floor, and mounted on varied-style feet, frequently of the claw-and-ball
type. These, as well as lowboys, continued to be regularly used until
well into the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Hepplewhite's book
of designs, published in 1789, shows models for chests of drawers
extending almost to the floor, but it is not probable that they were
made in any number after this date.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIV.--Block Front Bureau Desk, owned by Nathan C.
Osgood, Esq. One of the best specimens in New England; oak paneled
Chest, about 1675.]
The desk occupied a prominent place in New England homes in the early
days of the colonies, though not to the extent of the other and more
necessary articles of furniture. It varied in size and design according
to the period of its manufacture, the earliest type being little more
than a box that locked, with flat or sloping top, and placed on the
table when used. This type was often ornamented with rich carving, and
sometimes it was arranged upon legs, with a shelf beneath.
The form in common use about 1700 was known as the "scrutoir," being in
reality a desk resting on a chest of drawers; the sloping front opened
on hinges, and afforded a writing desk. One example of this type, fitted
with ball feet, and showing secret drawers and many cupboards, is found
in the Ropes house in Salem, being an inheritance from the original
owner, General Israel Putnam. Another of equal interest is in the home
of Mrs. Guerdon Howe at Haverhill. This originally belonged to Daniel
Webster, who was at one time a law partner of Mr. Howe's grandfather.
This desk, which was brought to the house after the death of Webster, is
filled with old and interesting letters.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXV.--Secretary, showing shell ornamentation;
Highboy with shell ornamentation and ball and claw feet, 1760; Highboy
with shell ornamentation.]
The earliest "scrutoirs" were of foreign manufacture, chiefly English,
but by 1710 they were being made in this country. These early American
"scrutoirs" are very plain in form, generally made of cherry, though
occasionally one is found constructed of walnut. After the first quarter
of the eighteenth century, American manufacturers improved their output,
and made some very handsome specimens of the type known as bureau desks.
One excellent example of the very early bureau desk of foreign make is
found in the possession of the Alden family, having been brought to this
country in the _Mayflower_ by John Alden himself.
By 1750 the desk in its various forms had come to be considered an
important part of the household equipment, and in their manufacture
many woods were employed, such as mahogany, cherry, apple, and black
walnut, sometimes solid, and sometimes veneered. The following thirty
years saw the advent of many new styles, two of which were more dominant
than the rest; one of these was the development of the early "scrutoir,"
and the other the forerunner of the bookcase desk or secretary.
During this period Chippendale designed several desk models, the most
notable of which was probably his secretary, characterized by Chinese
fret designs in the glass doors, and an ingenious arrangement of secret
drawers. In 1790 Hepplewhite followed with his designs, many of which
were severe in contour, being wholly straight in front and arranged with
two glass doors above, sometimes fancifully framed. Then Sheraton's
desks and secretaries came into favor; many of his models showed
practical features and beautiful finish, and after 1793 were generally
characterized by inlay work, with the lower portion consisting of a
cupboard instead of the usual drawers.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVI.--Dressing Table, 1760; Mahogany Commode,
collection of Nathan C. Osgood, Esq.]
During these latter days of the eighteenth century, beautiful
secretaries were manufactured in this country, ranging in form from the
very plain to the very elaborate, but after 1800, when some few
French Empire desks found their way here, serving as models for American
manufacturers, the domestic output became less graceful, depending for
beauty on the grain of the veneering used.
Many of all these types of desks are found throughout New England, one
particularly good specimen being shown in the Noyes house at
Newburyport. This belongs to a period antedating the Revolutionary War,
and shows the oval which is characteristic of its type. Among its
features are paneled doors one and one half inches thick.
Though the date of their introduction was not until well along in the
eighteenth century, sideboards are prominent among the old-time
furnishings, and in the highest state of their development they were
articles of beauty and utility. In reality they are a development of the
serving table, which came into vogue in the first half of the eighteenth
century, and in form are a combination of the serving table and its
accompanying pieces. At first they were little more than unwieldy,
unattractive chests of drawers, gradually developing to their best form,
with carved front, slender legs, and other details. In their
construction, mahogany was chiefly used, inlaid with satinwood, holly,
tulip, and maple, and veneered occasionally with walnut; and they showed
in their finished lines the best work of the skilled craftsman. The last
type of the old sideboard showed Empire characteristics, being more
massive than graceful, but yet containing features of marked beauty.
While Chippendale is often credited with having made sideboards, no
record of this fact is found among his designs, though he makes frequent
mention of several large tables, which he calls sideboard tables. No
doubt, many of the sideboards credited to him were made by Shearer, a
designer to whom belongs the credit of originating the sideboard, and
who included in his designs pieces with curved and serpentine fronts, a
style which was later perfected by Hepplewhite. There is no doubt that
Hepplewhite made sideboards, for in his book of designs he shows a
sideboard model, with a deep drawer at each end and a shallow one in the
center, as well as four different designs in the table form, without the
drawers, which are similar to Chippendale's work. Hepplewhite's
sideboards are characterized by square legs, often ending in the
spadefoot, the ends sometimes square and sometimes round, the front
swelled, straight, or curved, affording a great variety to his work.
Generally his sideboards are made of mahogany, and almost invariably
they are inlaid, though occasionally they show carving.
Sheraton also designed sideboards, and while in general appearance they
somewhat resemble Hepplewhite's designs, in many respects they are
superior. They were equipped with any number of devices, such as
cellarets, closets for wine bottles, slides for the serving tray, and
racks for plates and glasses, and many of them are lavishly ornamented
with inlay work, though few show carving.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVII.--Sheraton Sideboard; Simple form of
Sheraton Sideboard, with line inlay around drawers and doors. Date
1800.]
Examples of all these types are found in the colonies, one of
Hepplewhite design showing the fine inlay work and graceful proportions
typical of his pieces and originally owned by Governor Wentworth, being
in the possession of a Salem family. Another, of Sheraton make, is
preserved in the Stark home, having been brought here from the Governor
Pierce house at Hillsboro. Another of like make is found in the Howe
house, having originally belonged to an ancestor of the present owner,
Governor John Leverett, governor of Massachusetts during the time of
King Philip's War.
Shortly after 1800, the style of sideboard greatly changed, becoming
more massive, with the body placed nearer the floor, and the legs
shorter. French Empire styles influenced the manufacture in this country
to a great extent, though carving and the grain of the wood were still
depended upon for ornament, rather than the French features. The best
examples of this type are to-day found in the South; 1820-1830 saw the
advent of a plainer model, being in reality an adaptation of one of
Sheraton's types; in the following years other variations were made, all
showing the heaviness of the Empire style in a more or less degree,
until about 1850, when the architectural merits of the sideboard
disappeared.
Intimately associated with the sideboard is the table which probably
shows more variety in design than any of the other old-time furnishings.
From the table board or top used in 1624, square, oval, or round in
contour, evolved the butterfly table popular about 1700, many examples
of which are found throughout Connecticut. These followed in form the
outline of a butterfly, and were supported by pieces of wood shaped much
like the rudder of a ship. Other types popular here were the Dutch
table, the hundred-legged table, the dish-top table, and the tea table.
The first table used in this country was the table top, which was
literally a board made separate from its supports, which was taken off
and placed at one side of the room after meals. This showed different
forms, and was known by different names, one called the chair table, and
so constructed that when not in use it served as a seat, being probably
the most unique. It was invariably fashioned with drawers.
Included in the later designs were writing tables fashioned by Sheraton,
showing elegant carving at the back, the most decorative of these, known
as the "Kidney" based table, being used either for writing or as a
lady's worktable. Another model of Sheraton's was a worktable known as
the Pouch Table, arranged with a bag of drawn silk. These were often
fitted with drawers and a sliding desk, which drew forward from beneath
the table top.
The dining table of this period showed the pillar and claw style with
central leg fixed to a block, on which the table hinged. This principle
received the support of the English people for many years, and Sheraton
tables of this make had four claws to each pillar, and castors of brass.
So much did Sheraton designs resemble those of French artisans that only
close inspection will decide as to which cabinet-maker a certain piece
belongs.
Following this type came the telescopic table, showing extensions fitted
through slides moving in grooved channels.
Other later tables were card tables, which closed and could be stood
against the wall when not in use, the pie-crust table of the Dutch style
of make, and the table with scalloped moldings carved from solid pieces
of wood, with legs terminating in claw-and-ball feet. Tables of Empire
design often have brass feet and lyre supports, while others show the
rope carving and acanthus leaf.
Popular types of the later days of the eighteenth century were Pembroke
tables, small and of ornamental design, with inlaid tops and brackets to
supply the two side flaps, as well as Pier tables, circular or
serpentine in shape.
CHAPTER X
FOUR-POSTERS
At no time since the days of the Renaissance has interest been so keen
in interior decoration as it is at the present day, not only as regards
the main living rooms of the home, but the sleeping apartments as well.
This has resulted in a revival of old-time features, and the chamber
fittings of the present in many cases are similar in type to those of
early times, when purely classical designs were in vogue,--models that
have never been surpassed in beauty by later designers, though many a
fine piece of furniture has been made since then by expert
cabinet-makers.
Early specimens showed a delicacy of touch and a mastery of thought that
gave to them a lasting place in the world of architecture, and while the
coming historian may dilate upon twentieth-century models, he cannot
make any comparison that will in any way be derogatory to these
wonderfully fine old pieces. In early days, labor was a very different
problem from what it is to-day, years being often spent in the making of
a single specimen of furniture, and, indeed, in some countries, a
workman has been known to have spent his whole life in the fashioning of
a single piece.
Taking these points into consideration, one cannot wonder that early
century pieces are still as perfect as they were the day that they left
the makers' hands, and it is with regret that he views the hurry and
rush of modern times resulting in the practical abolition of hand
carving, and the introduction of machinery that has helped in the
deterioration of the art. Reproductions, as they are made to-day, while
in many cases very beautiful, cannot equal in finish the originals
fashioned at a time when art was the first consideration.
Fortunately, many genuine antiques are still in existence, and present
interest for the most part centers in their types and periods of
manufacture. With so many periods and so many makers, it is not
surprising that mistakes in these respects are sometimes made,
especially as regards the bedstead. For the best of these, one need not
search farther back than the seventeenth century, for the most valuable
specimens were made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many
of these to-day bringing from two to three hundred dollars apiece.
Of course, these fine beds were not the first beds used here, though no
doubt the earlier types, as well as these later specimens, were imported
from England, along with the other household furnishings. If any
bedsteads were made here, they were undoubtedly simple and
unpretentious, along the lines of the settle and board tables.
The articles of furniture devised by people of different countries for
comfort in sleep vary according to climate and the progress of
civilization. The bed of our primeval ancestors consisted of dried
mosses and leaves, with a canopy of waving leaves above. Later, through
the need of shelter from the frost and protection from crawling insects,
a rude structure consisting of a framework of poles, covered with
branches, was substituted. Probably the first authentic representation
of a bed is found on ancient Egyptian tombs, depicting a long, narrow
receptacle, suited for but one person. Greek and Roman beds,
representations of which have also been found, are of the single type,
resembling in shape the Flemish couches made in the latter half of the
seventeenth century, while the Greek thalamos, another type, showed a
framework of great beauty, curiously carved, and decked with ivory,
gold, silver, and precious stones. Roman luxury outvied that of Greece,
as is shown by specimens that have been found in Pompeii, and the
hangings of the bed, while receiving special attention, seemed to be
less highly prized than the frame, probably on account of the mildness
of the climate.
The eleventh century saw the half-savage people of northern Europe
building beds into the walls of their rooms, and fitting them with doors
and sliding panels to insure against the cold. These cupboard couches
are reproduced in a modified form in many summer homes to-day, being
arranged like steamer berths.
After the Norman Conquest, beds of this type came into favor in England,
though they were quickly superseded by a great oaken bed with
roofed-over top. This was arranged in the center of the room, and
heavily curtained for protection against the wind that blew in through
the cracks of the poorly hung doors and the unglazed windows, closed
only by loosely fitted shutters. Many of these beds were of prodigious
size, the most historic, "The Great Bed of Ware" to which Shakespeare
alludes, being twelve feet square, built of solid oak, and finished with
the most elaborate carving imaginable. This bed is known to have
furnished sleeping accommodations for twelve persons at one time, and it
has stood for nearly four centuries in an ancient inn, located in the
town of Ware. In style, this is a four-poster, and doubtless marks the
induction of this, the most expensive but the most popular bed of its
day.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVIII.--Bedstead in Middleton House, 1798.]
Old-time four-posters consisted, as do those we see to-day, of four
posts, supporting a tester, and connected laterally by sidepieces which
were almost always undecorated, as the bedspread was supposed to fall
over the sides of the bed and cover them. A headboard was considered
almost indispensable, although it is absent in some cases. It was
usually rather low and decorated with carving, more or less elaborate.
The footboard was sometimes used, but was quite often omitted in the
older specimens, and seems to have come into favor later on, as an
additional detail. When the posts were lowered, the footboard rose into
prominence, but this was not until after the first quarter of the
nineteenth century had elapsed.
Many of the beds had a canvas bottom, held in place either by iron rods
or ropes, or sometimes by both. It was "sackcloth and ashes" at
house-cleaning time in those days, for either kind required the united
strength of several muscular arms to put it together. The hair mattress
was unknown at that period, and in its place was used brown linen
sacking filled with straw and buttoned at one side, so that the straw
could be easily removed at any time. This formed the lower strata of the
bed, and above it were laid innumerable feather beds, piled one above
the other, so high that often steps were necessary assistants in getting
into bed.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIX.--Sheraton type, in Kittredge House;
Four-poster, about 1825.]
In colonial homes, where bedrooms were fireless, curtains and hangings
were important accessories of the bed to shield the sleeper from drafts.
These were often made of linen, handspun by some member of the
household, and while many were white, some were in colors. One of these,
of blue and white homespun pattern, edged with hand-made ball fringe,
has been in constant use for generations, and as yet shows not the
slightest sign of wear. It is now owned by a fortunate Salem woman.
[Illustration: PLATE XL.--Field Bedstead, slept in by Lafayette, in
Stark Mansion. Owned by Mrs. Charles Stark, Dunbarton, N. H.]
Many of these hangings were made of chintz and hand-embroidered linen,
and in homes of limited means they were also made of patch, following
the style of the quilt. Blankets were likewise home-made, of handspun
wool, adorned with roses in each corner, which gave them the name of
rose blankets. A blue and white homespun counterpane added the
finishing touch, and often the hangings of the bed were of this same
material, the curtains being drawn back loosely so that, on cold nights,
they could be permitted to fall about the bed. Often both counterpane
and hangings were finished with a hand-made netted fringe, varying in
width from five to eight inches.
While beds were a scarcity in the rude homes of our early ancestors,
still they were sometimes brought here from over the seas, as is proven
from an account written by Rev. Robert Crowell in his _History of
Essex_, in which he speaks of two bedrooms in Darius Cogswell's house.
These were divided off from the main room by handsome curtains that were
stretched the whole way across, and, in the bed reserved for visitors,
the guests of the night lay inclosed with curtains to exclude the night
air; these, when drawn in the morning, allowed one to peer through the
cracks in the shrunken logs at the world outside.
Most of our ancestors, however, were content with much simpler beds than
this, for mere frames, with curtains and valances, were most frequently
used, the beds stuffed with straw or feathers plucked from live geese,
or poultry, and laid on the floor. Among these early types are
"Cupboard" or "Presse" bedsteads, frequently mentioned in the
inventories from which we gather much of our information. These, when
not in use, were fastened up against the wall, proving valuable space
savers where space was limited. Bunks were another type of the early bed
in use here, one specimen, used in early days for slaves who were in the
family, being still shown at the Adams house at Byfield.
Possibly the early settlers may have used a bed that is still in fashion
among the Kentucky mountaineers, known as "Wild Bill." This is a
one-poster, rather than a four-poster, and occupies a corner of the loft
in a log cabin. The side and end of the cabin serve for headboard and
one side of the bed; saplings nailed to the solitary post that runs from
roof to flooring supply footboard and sidepiece; springy poles, running
crosswise, uphold the home-made straw mattress and feather bed.
Doubtless the rest of the mountaineer who uses this is sweet, but to one
unused to it, it seems a diabolical bed!
When life in the new country became easier, furniture of all kinds was
brought here from England, much of it of the Queen Anne period. This
comprised, among other details, four-posters made of black walnut, this
wood having superseded English oak in popular favor during the preceding
reign of William and Mary. Panelings and moldings that had done duty
during the Jacobean period were retained in all their splendor, and to
these were added the new feature of the claw-and-ball foot. Our oldest
beds belong to this period, unless we consider Presse bedsteads or
Cupboard bedsteads, already spoken of, as real beds. The Dutch name for
such contrivances was "slaw-bank," and they might be said to be the
forerunner of the latter-day folding bed.
Mahogany was first used in England in the year 1720, and therefore it
belongs to the Georgian period. Four-posters of this material, as
constructed in the early days of their popularity, had slender and
delicate posts, which were sometimes fluted and sometimes carved. In
these earlier specimens the headboards were simply made and left
undecorated. At this time great advance in the designing of furniture
was made, for cabinet-makers published books of designs, and
Chippendale, who was doubtless the greatest English exponent of his
craft, designed beds with footpieces and sidepieces, carefully paneled
and carved. He used tall and slender posts, and carving of the most
elaborate nature. Genuine Chippendale beds are rare in America, and they
are not common in England, seeming almost as if he had executed this
piece of furniture less frequently than any other. We have, however,
beautiful specimens which were modeled after Chippendale designs.
In English furniture making, the brothers Adam held the supremacy from
1775 until the end of the century. They endeavored to restore the simply
classical styles of Greece and Rome, with Greek ornamental figures, such
as the acanthus, urns, shells, rosettes, and female heads. They made a
smaller bed than the Chippendale pattern, with lower posts and less
abundant carving.
Hepplewhite's influence culminated some ten years later than that of the
brothers Adam. He designed four-posters of attractive delicacy, used
carved rosettes and a delicately carved beading by way of decoration,
and delighted to place an urn-shaped section, lightly festooned with
drapery, on the post where the sidepiece joins the standard.
[Illustration: PLATE XLI.--Sheraton Four-poster; Four-poster showing
decided English characteristics.]
Sheraton was the last of the noted cabinet-makers of the Georgian
period, commencing to publish his designs in 1790. They were
distinguished for the use of inlaid work, and later on he developed
painted designs. In his work he introduced many light woods, such as
whitewood, satinwood, and sycamore, which, when painted green, was
termed harewood. The trend of sentiment at that time seemed to be toward
simplicity and delicacy.
The last great change in the old four-poster was made, curiously enough,
in deference to Napoleon, for it was through his influence that ancient
Roman decorations, such as the laurel wreath and the torch, were
revived. England had her mental reservations regarding this type,
however, and by the time the fashion reached America it simply lowered
the bedposts. It was the beginning of the end, however, and forty years
later came the Renaissance of black walnut, and with it the relegation
of the old four-posters to attic and storehouse, or else to the chopping
block. Saddest of all, their owners were glad to see them go, on account
of the difficulty of putting them together. In the revival of colonial
fittings, the four-poster has again been restored to favor, and in many
modern homes the old four-poster is the chamber's most pleasing feature.
There are some wonderfully fine old four-posters in America. One of
these, in the Howe house at Haverhill, showing slender posts,
surmounted by the ball and eagle, is made of brass. Originally it
belonged to the first owner of the dwelling, Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall,
a contemporary of George Washington, and a descendant of Sir Richard
Saltonstall. It has never been out of the family since its importation,
the present owner being the widow of the first owner's great-grandson.
Historic through the fact that it once graced the chamber of Oliver
Wendell Holmes is the exquisite four-poster now in a Salem house. This
is characterized by a richness of design that is most attractive, and
the hangings are in keeping with the exquisiteness of the whole. In this
same dwelling is another old poster, this time of the low type, that
came into vogue about 1825. This shows but little of the carving that is
a feature of the older types.
Other fine old four-posters can be found in Salem. One is of Hepplewhite
make, showing the slender posts and fluting of his type, while another
is considered one of the best specimens in New England, with a drapery
of patch that is probably all of a hundred years old.
At Dunbarton, New Hampshire, in the old Stark mansion, is a fine example
of the Field bedstead, standing exactly as it did when Lafayette
occupied it so many years ago, and still known by the name then given to
it, the Lafayette bed.
In the Middleton house at Bristol is a most interesting four-poster,
done in white, the gift to a bride of long ago. Lately this has been
repainted exactly as it was when first placed in the house, the design
depicted, that of the bow and arrow, showing as clear and dainty as when
first traced. In another chamber in this same old home is another
four-poster that was brought direct from Leghorn. Both of these rare
specimens have been in the family since the building of the homestead.
Examples of these fine old beds are growing scarcer and rarer each year,
and their value is correspondingly increasing. Some years ago they could
be had almost for the asking, but with their revival in favor, their
worth has increased. They depict an era that is associated with the best
in the way of design and craftsmanship, and not a few of them have
historic associations that render them particularly notable.
CHAPTER XI
MIRRORS
The heavily freighted ships that came into the harbor in the days of
Salem's commercial prosperity brought in their holds many valuables,
including mirrors, several of which are to-day found in Salem homes. Not
a few of these are ancestral heirlooms, closely interlinked with
interesting family histories, and their depths have reflected the faces
of many old-time belles.
Even in the earliest days of the colonies, mirrors formed a part of the
household accessories, for our Puritan ancestors, scorning as they did
all pretence of personal vanity, did not forbear to glimpse their
appearance before they wended their way to service on Sabbath morn.
Proof positive of their use at this time is to-day in existence in the
form of inventories that list the prices and tell odd, descriptive
stories concerning them, as, for instance, a record of 1684 that speaks
of "a large looking-glass and brasses valued at two pounds, five
shillings."
The origin of the mirror is shrouded in mystery and the time of its
invention uncertain, but there is no doubt that rude reflectors were
made to serve the purpose in South Europe and Asia, at least three
hundred years before the Christian Era. These were made of metal, varied
in shape, and they were considered necessary toilet accessories. All
were highly polished, and several showed handles elaborately wrought.
Small mirrors of polished iron or bronze were used by the early Chinese,
who wore them as ornaments at their girdles, attached to a cord that
held the handle or knob. Who knows but these may have been forerunners
of the "vanity case" in use to-day!
Small circular placques of polished metal known as pocket and hand
mirrors came into vogue between the twelfth and the fifteenth centuries.
These, too, were worn at the girdle, and placed in shallow boxes covered
with a lid. The cases were of ivory, beautifully carved with
representations of love, romance, and, less frequently, of the hunt.
Looking-glasses when first used were fastened to the wall like panels,
but in the fifteenth century they became movable. These earlier mirrors
show a great variety of shapes, and were made of different kinds of
polished metal.
The Venetians undoubtedly made the first looking-glasses, having been
the ones to discover the art of coating plates of glass with an amalgam
of tin foil and mercury. For over a century they guarded their secret
well, and it was not until 1670 that the art became known in England
through the keenness of an Englishman named Lambert.
Salem merchants sent their ships to Venetian ports, and an occasional
mirror of this make is found here. One of these is owned in Salem. It is
about a foot and a half in length, its frame of gilt surmounted by a
cornice and gilt pineapple, with claw feet.
The introduction of glass mirrors gave rise to a new industry,--the
making of mirror frames. In this occupation, cabinet-makers found a new
vent for their skill, since by far the larger number of frames were made
of wood. Of course, there were a few odd frames made, such as those of
glass fitted together at the joints with gilt molding, but the majority
were of wood. The different styles are characteristic of certain periods
or designers, and it is upon the frame rather than upon the glass
that one must rely for value, as well as for date of manufacture.
Previous to the Revolution, the colonists manufactured little furniture,
and were dependent upon England, Holland, Spain, and France for their
house furnishings, including mirrors. Many beautiful specimens thus
found their way here, and many are still to be found in colonial homes.
One such is owned in Salem. This is a Bilboa glass, an especially fine
type, one of several still preserved in New England, principally in
Marblehead. There is a popular legend that these old glasses were
brought from the Bay of Biscay by sailors for sweethearts at home,
though some authorities insist that they were imported from Italy and
paid for with dried fish. However this may be, they are certainly
excellent illustrations of the early craftsmen's skill.
The distinctive feature of the Bilboa glass is a column of
salmon-colored marble on either side of the gilt frame. This marble is
glued or cemented in small sections to the wood, and in some cases
strips of marble form the border around the frame. It is ornamented on
top by a broken arch surmounted by an urn. Grotesque and grinning heads
top the columns, and a narrow bead molding surrounds the glass and
decorates the lower part in scroll design.
[Illustration: PLATE XLII.--Girandole in George Ropes House, 1800;
Girandole, 1800; Constitution Mirror, 1780.]
The earliest type of looking-glasses came into vogue in the first half
of the eighteenth century, during the reign of Queen Anne of England.
The frames of simple wood gave little hint of the extravagant
decorations that were to follow, the only ornamentation being gilded
wooden figures and squat urns, which were occasionally used.
[Illustration: PLATE XLIII.--Picture Mirror showing Dawn, in Adams
House, 1703; English Georgian Mirror, 1750; Two-piece Looking-glass,
1750.]
Owing to the extreme difficulty of making large pieces of glass, and
also because it was not deemed prudent to waste the smaller pieces, many
of the Queen Anne mirrors were made of two pieces of glass arranged so
that one plate overlapped the other. Later, these parts were joined by
strips of gilt molding. Several of these mirrors are still in existence,
one of the earlier type being owned by Mrs. Walter L. Harris of Salem,
showing a simple glass with gilt figure ornament.
One of the finest mirror designers was Chippendale, who wrought out
Chinese patterns, his schemes showing a wonderful weaving of birds,
flowers, animals, and even human beings. One design, typical of his
work, shows a flat wooden frame cut in graceful arches, with a gilded
eagle perched on top with outspread wings. Gilt rosettes and flowers,
as well as ornaments strung on wire, were frequently used by him, and
are considered characteristic of his type.
It was customary for the frames to rest on a pair of mirror knobs, which
were fitted to the lower edge of the frame and screwed firmly to the
wall. These knobs were often made of brass, but the most fashionable
ones were of copper overlaid with Battersea enamel, and framed in rings
of brass. Among the most quaint designs which were carried out on these
mirror knobs were heads of prominent persons such as Washington,
Lafayette, and Lord Nelson. Bright-colored flowers and landscapes, the
American eagle, and the thirteen stars, representing the original
colonies, were also frequently used, as were the queer designs of the
funeral urn and weeping willow, that seemed to especially appeal to our
ancestors' taste.
By the year 1780 American mirror manufacturers had evolved a style
peculiarly their own, and the glasses made at that time were known as
Constitution mirrors. The frames were not unusual in design, generally
being made of wood, in more or less elaborate shapes, but they were
original in their decoration, especially in their tops. These generally
were graced by the American eagle, the newly chosen emblem of the
Republic, executed either in plaster covered with gilt, or in wood. A
good example of the Constitution type is shown in the Lord house at
Newton. The top shows the usual eagle decoration, though the cornice is
overhanging, fixing the date of manufacture early in the nineteenth
century. This mirror is especially historic, having belonged to the
brilliant Revolutionary hero, Henry Knox, General Washington's most
intimate friend.
Another handsome mirror of the same period is one that was originally in
the Harrod mansion at Newburyport. It was one of the few things saved
when the house was burned at the time of the great fire in 1812. This
mirror now hangs in the home of a lineal descendant of the Harrod family
in Salem. It is in perfect condition, and shows the eagle top and draped
sides.
The overhanging cornice came into vogue early in the nineteenth century.
A mirror characteristic of this date is shown in the living room at
"Highfield," the Byfield home of the Adams family, built by Abraham
Adams in 1703. It has a gilt frame of the ordinary picture type, and on
account of its association is most interesting.
A specimen of the same period is shown in the Lord house at Newton.
This is decorated with the figure of a goddess sitting in a chariot
drawn by two rams. The frame is of fine mahogany, with handsomely carved
columns, simply ornamented.
[Illustration: PLATE XLIV.--Oval Mirror, showing Acanthus leaves, once
on Cleopatra's Barge, the first pleasure yacht built in America; Mirror,
1710, resting on ornamental knobs; Mirror, 1810, in Dudley L. Pickman
House.]
Other types of mirrors popular in the days of our forefathers were the
mantel mirrors that came into favor early in the eighteenth century,
first in England and later in America. Their greatest period of
popularity was from 1760 until the commencement of the nineteenth
century. Many of these glasses were oval in shape, though the majority
consisted of three panels of glass separated only by narrow moldings of
wood. This style was probably originated by some economical
cabinet-maker who, in order to avoid the heavy expense which the
purchase of large plates involved, designed these. They were most
favorably received upon their introduction, and many of the old glasses
to be found at the present day are of this style.
One of the most valuable of these three-piece mantel glasses is that in
the drawing-room of the Pierce-Nichols house on Federal Street at Salem,
the frame of which has attracted the attention of antiquarians all over
the country. It was made for a bride, who in 1783 came to be mistress
of this old home, and it shows a finish of gold and white harmonizing
admirably with the surrounding white woodwork, exquisitely carved by
Samuel McIntyre, the noted wood-carver. Its principal features are
slender, fluted columns twined with garlands, which fancy is repeated in
the decorations of the capitals. Above the glass are two narrow panels,
one of white ornamented with gilt, and the other of latticework over
white. Just beneath the overhang of the cornice is a row of gilt balls,
a form of decoration that came into style during the latter part of the
eighteenth century, and which continued to characterize a certain class
of mirrors for several decades.
Late in the nineteenth century mirrors known as bull's-eyes and
girandoles came into vogue. These were circular in form, the glass
usually convex, and they were made by Chippendale, the Adam Brothers,
and others. The fact of their being convex rendered them impractical for
common use, though it allowed for elaborate framing, and they were
employed rather for ornament than for use. Looking up the old
definition, we find these glasses alone have the right to be called
mirrors, and that all else save "circular convex" should, properly
speaking, be termed looking-glasses.
One good example of this type was in the George house at Rowley,
Massachusetts, now demolished. It showed a heavy gilt frame, surmounted
by an eagle.
Originally, there were shown in Hamilton Hall, at Salem, two fine
examples of girandoles, with glass pendants, which in the midst of
lighted candles reflected myriad sparkles. Interesting, indeed, would be
the tales they could tell of fair ladies in powder and patches, and
courtly gallants who in the long ago gathered in this famous hall to
tread the measures of the minuet! These girandoles were the gift of Mr.
Cabot, and they are now replaced by simpler examples, the originals
having been given to the Saltonstall family, in whose possession they
still are.
Of the late colonial looking-glasses, there are two general types, the
earlier dating back to about 1810 and characterized by an overhanging
cornice, beneath which pendant balls or acorns are frequently found,
with frames of wood carved and gilded, or painted. Further decoration is
found in a panel beneath the cornice ornamented with various designs,
such as a horn of plenty, floral subjects, or classical scenes.
In the later type, the cornice has disappeared, and the frame as a rule
is more simply ornamented. The upper panel, however, has been retained,
and almost invariably it shows a painting of some sort. Until within a
comparatively few years, it was not a difficult matter to secure mirrors
of this type, but the recent fad for collecting old furniture has caused
many of the best specimens to be purchased, and, in consequence, really
good colonial mirrors are rapidly becoming scarce, and one is a
treasured possession.
The Kittredge house at North Andover, Massachusetts, shows several fine
examples of this later type, and other examples are to be found in the
Lord house at Newton, and in several Salem residences. These show a
great variety of panels, ranging from pastoral scenes to horns of
plenty, and from ships to simple baskets of flowers.
It is interesting to note, in connection with these old-time mirrors,
the influence of the period reflected in the framing, and also how
graphically the frame depicts the social life of its date of
manufacture, and the country in which it was designed. There is a marked
flamboyancy in the Venetian designs of the early eighteenth century,
changed in the middle of the same century to a heavy splendor and
inartistic grandeur. England, slightly earlier, gave examples of fruit
which many think were designed by Gibbon, but which materially lack the
freedom of his work.
Scrolls and angles, arabesques and medallions, belong to the second half
of the eighteenth century. Many such came to New England, and one of
these mirrors is still seen in a Salem home. Its decorations hint of the
influence of the Renaissance, and it shows medallions decorated with
grotesque figures on either side of the upper panel.
[Illustration: PLATE XLV.--Mirror, 1770; Lafayette Courting Mirror,
Osgood Collection; Empire Mirror, 1810.]
Perhaps as interesting as any of the old mirrors is the Lafayette
mirror, one excellent example of which is seen in the Osgood house at
Salem. This is small in size, surmounted with a painting of Lafayette,
and is one of a great number designed in compliment to the beloved
Frenchman's visit to Salem in 1784. It is known as the Courtney Mirror.
Many of the fine old specimens to be seen in Salem were brought to New
England at the time of the old seaport town's commercial glory, about
the period of the Revolution, and previous to the restrictions following
the War of 1812. These were halcyon days in Salem, "before the great
tide of East India trade had ebbed away, leaving Derby Street stranded,
its great wharves given over to rats and the slow lap of the water
among the dull green piles."
Probably there are few of these old-time mirrors but have been connected
with interesting traditions and events, and it seems a pity that their
histories have never been compiled, but have been allowed to pass
unrecorded, leaving the imagination to conjure up scenes of joy and
sorrow that have been reflected in their depths. Still, for all their
unwritten stories each and every one possesses a glamor of mystery that
makes the work of collecting them most fascinating. The personal note so
prevalent in nearly all workmanship of past centuries is particularly
noticeable in the looking-glass, and perhaps it is this very attribute
more than anything else that lends so great a degree of charm and
attractiveness to them.
CHAPTER XII
OLD-TIME CLOCKS
There is something quaintly pathetic about an old colonial clock. Its
sociability appeals to all home lovers, as it cheerily ticks the hours
away, with a regularity that is almost human.
The first clocks, if so they might be called, were composed of two bowls
connected by an opening through which water trickled, drop by drop, from
one to the other. Next came a simple contrivance consisting of a greased
wick tied into knots. The smoldering of the lighted wick determined the
flight of time.
The first clock, which was made in 807, was given as a present to the
Emperor Claudius. It was a small clock of bronze inlaid with gold, and
was fitted with twelve small doors. Each one of these opened at a given
time, and allowed tiny balls to roll out, differing in number according
to the hour represented. Promptly at the strike of twelve, toy horsemen
came prancing out, and closed every open door. This was a marvel of
clock-making that attracted a great deal of attention.
In 1335, a monk, Peter Lightfoot by name, constructed a wonderful clock,
which he presented to Glastonbury Abbey. During the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, many and varied kinds of clocks were made, and we
are assured that this was a successful venture, even in the early ages,
from the fact that in 1500 a clock-makers' union was formed.
To one who is interested in the history of clocks, there is no better
place to view them than in Europe, where the most skilled clock-makers
lived during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Marseilles,
Exeter, and Westminster Abbey are the homes of some of the most
wonderful clocks in the world.
Some of the most beautiful of these were made by Chippendale and
Sheraton, the former manufacturing specimens that stood nine feet high
and measured twenty-five inches across. On the door, was placed a
reliable thermometer, while on the inner circle, the signs of the Zodiac
were marked, the outer circle showing the movable features by means of a
sliding ring.
The manufacture of clocks in America began early in the eighteenth
century. Among the earliest clock-makers was one Benjamin Bagnall, who
learned his trade in England and settled in Boston in 1712. A record of
a meeting of the selectmen of the town on August 13, 1717, reads: "that
Mr. Joseph Wadsworth, William Welstead, Esq., and Habijah Savage, Esq.,
be desired to treat with Mr. Benjamin Bagnall about making a Town
Clock," and according to the record in September of that year he was
paid for it.
The earliest Bagnall clock on record is of the Pendulum type, in a tall
case of pine; on the inside of the lower door was written: "This clock
put up January 10, 1722." Another, very similar to this type, belongs to
the New England Historical Genealogical Society of Boston. The case,
though plain, is handsome and unusual, being made of solid black walnut.
Most of the cases, however, were made of pine, veneered. The use of this
wood was characteristic of old American-made cases, while those of old
English make were veneered on oak.
A particularly fine Bagnall clock is in the Hosmer collection at
Hartford, Connecticut. It is a black walnut veneer on pine. A
peculiarity of the Bagnall make is the small dial, only twelve inches
square. Above the dial is an arched extension, silvered and engraved
with the name of the maker. Samuel Bagnall, son of Benjamin, has left a
few good clocks, thought to be equal to the work of his father.
The clocks of Enos Doolittle, another colonial maker, are not numerous
enough to give him a prominent place among the great manufacturers.
Nevertheless, he deserves much praise for the few good clocks which he
has left behind. One of them is at Hartford, Doolittle's native town.
The case is of beautifully carved cherry, ornamented with pilasters on
the sides of the case and face; the top of the case is richly ornamented
with scrolls and carvings. A circular plate above the dial has the
legend "Enos Doolittle, Hartford."
[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.--Willard Banjo Clock, 1802; Banjo Clock,
1804; Willard Banjo Clock, 1802.]
There were many small clock-makers in colonial days, one, we might say,
in every town, who left a few examples of their work; but none of them
left the number or quality produced by the great clock-makers, the
Willards. Benjamin Willard, who had shops in Boston, Roxbury, and
Grafton, made a specialty of the musical clock, which he advertised as
playing a tune a day and a psalm tune on Sundays. Aaron Willard, a
brother, made tall, striking clocks. One of his productions, owned by
Dr. G. Faulkner of Boston, has run for over one hundred and twenty
years. On the inside of the case is written: "The first short timepiece
made in America, 1784." It is a departure from the ordinary Aaron
Willard clock, because it is so short. The case of mahogany stands only
twenty-six inches high; and there are scroll feet, turning back. A
separate upper part, with ogre feet, which can be lifted off, contains
the movements. Simon Willard, another brother, in 1802 patented the
"Improved timepiece" which later was known as the "banjo" because of its
resemblance in shape to that instrument. The "banjo" which Willard
manufactured had a convex glass door over the face, a slim waist with
brass ornaments running parallel to the curve of the box, and a
rectangular base, which was sometimes built with legs for a shelf,
sometimes with an ornamental bracket on the bottom, in which case the
clock was intended for the wall. The construction of these clocks was
simple; the works were of brass, and capable of running eight or nine
days. There was no strike, but this clock was a favorite, because of its
accuracy.
Hardly less famous than the Willards was Eli Terry, born April, 1773,
in East Windsor, Connecticut. Before he was twenty-one, he was
recognized as having unusual ingenuity at clock-making. He had learned
the trade from Thomas Harland, a well-known clock-maker of the times,
had constructed a few old-fashioned hanging clocks and sold them in his
own town. He moved to Plymouth and continued to make clocks, working
alone till 1800, when he hired a few assistants. He would start about a
dozen movements at a time, cutting the wheels and teeth with saw and
jack-knife. Each year he made a few trips through the surrounding
country, carrying three or four clock movements which he sold for about
twenty-five dollars apiece.
Felt tells in his annals that "in 1770, Joseph Hiller moved from Boston
to Salem and took a shop opposite the courthouse on the exchange." Later
on, in 1789, we learn that Samuel Mullikin made an agreement to barter
clocks for both English and West Indies goods, and also in exchange for
country produce. So popular did they become that we learn that in 1844
there were in Salem ten clock-makers and eleven jewelers all working at
this trade.
While the colonists still imported many of their clocks, yet in 1800
clock-making had become such a thriving industry that wooden cases were
constantly being made, the manufacture of the works being a separate
field.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVII.--English Grandfather's Clock, William Dean
Howells; Collection of Old Clocks, property of Mr. Mills, Saugus, Mass.;
Grandfather's Clock, formerly owned by President Franklin Pierce.
Property of Mrs. Charles Stark.]
One of the most interesting is a tall grandfather's clock, showing the
moon above the face, at the Stark house in Dunbarton. This clock
formerly stood in the old Governor Pierce mansion at Hillsboro. It is
very handsome, showing fine inlaid work on the case.
Varied in shape and size were the numerous clocks which were found in
colonial homes in New England. They ranged from the tall grandfather's
clock to the smaller wall and bracket pieces. One kind that was in use,
though rarely seen to-day, is the table clock, a type highly prized by
the colonists, and recorded as a fine timekeeper.
By the early nineteenth century we find the making of American clocks
had become so universal that they were to be found not only in many New
England houses, but throughout the South and Middle states as well. Many
of the rarest and oldest were at the plantation manors of Virginia and
Kentucky as well as in New England.
There are to-day in many houses colonial clocks valued not only for
their worth, but for association's sake. One of these is in the home of
Mr. John Albree at Swampscott, Massachusetts. It is considered one of
the oldest of its kind in the United States, and was brought from
England in the year 1635 by one John Albree, and has been in the family
ever since. It is known as the weaver's clock, and has one hand only.
These clocks are very rare, only a very few being known of.
Singularly enough, few people, even those who are the most interested in
clocks and their making, know much about their early history and
construction. The purchase of a clock at the present time means not only
the case, but the entire works as well. It was, however, far different
in the early days, at least while the tall clocks were so popular.
Transportation was difficult, so the clock peddlers contented themselves
by slinging half a dozen clock movements over the saddle and starting
out to find purchasers. After the works were purchased, and the family
felt they had twenty pounds to spare, they called in a local
cabinet-maker, and often the whole of the amount went into the making of
the case. Naturally, a certain-shaped case was made to fit a certain
movement, so that definite types of clocks were found, but it must be
remembered that the case gave no indication of the period of the maker
of the movements.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVIII.--General Stephen Abbot Clock; Terry Shelf
Clock, 1824; English Clock, with Ball ornamentation.]
One of the first types of clocks made in America was the wall clock.
This was set on a shelf through which slits were cut for the pendulum
and weight cords to fall. These were known as "lantern," "bird cage," or
"wag-at-the-wall," later replaced by the more imposing "Grandfather,"
which served a double duty as timekeeper and as one of the "show pieces"
of furniture.
The first known Terry clock was made in 1792. It was built with a long,
handsome case and with a silver-plated dial, engraved with Terry's name.
This clock, just as it was when Eli Terry set it going for the first
time with all the pride which he must have had in his first
accomplishment, is now in the possession of the Terry family.
There was an interesting clock of this type in the General Stephen Abbot
house on Federal Street, Salem, and another is still in the possession
of Mr. Henry Mills of Saugus, Massachusetts.
Terry introduced a patent shelf clock, with a short case. This made the
clock much more marketable, because it was short enough to allow of easy
transportation and at the same time offered the inducement of a
well-made and inexpensive case.
The patent shelf clock was a surprise to the rivals of Terry, because
this change in construction had produced an absolutely new and improved
model,--an unheard-of thing in clock making. The conservatism before
shown by the colonial makers had stunted the growth of clock
improvements in many ways, hence Terry's new invention produced a
sensation.
The change was such as to allow the play of weights on each side and the
whole length of the case. The placing of the pendulum, crown wheel, and
verge in front of the wheels, and between the dial and the movement, was
another space-saving device, as was also the changing of the dial wheels
from the outside to the inside of the movement plates. The escapement
was transferred by hanging the verge on a steel pin, instead of on a
long, heavy shaft inside the plates. This allowed the clock to be
fastened to the case in back, making the pendulum accessible by removing
only the dial. Thus Terry fairly revolutionized small-clock making, by
introducing a new form, more compact, more serviceable, and cheaper than
any of the older makes.
In 1807 Terry bought an old mill in Plymouth and fitted it up so as to
make his clocks by machinery. About this time several Waterbury men
associated themselves to supply Terry with the materials, if he
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