This style of drop front desk is commonly, and erroneously, called a Gov. Winthrop desk.

A quick reading of selected world history reveals a number of events or artifacts that are identified with a specific time, place or person. Many of these references are historically accurate, such as the Pax Romana (the so-called Roman Peace of the period 27 B.C.-180 A.D.) or the Victorian period of 1837-1901. But other references are a little shaky on accurate details, like the Trojan Horse. Was there really a Trojan Horse? And was it related to the Trojan War?

In the long run, it makes good mythology, so the facts are secondary to the story. But in the antique furniture business, we frequently are looking more for the facts and less for a good story. Unfortunately, there are a number of “good stories” that associate a particular style or type of furniture with a specific individual even though the facts are a little thin for the attribution.

One such famous case is the name commonly ascribed to the ubiquitous slant front desk. That name is the “Gov. Winthrop” desk. The story goes that the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century, John Winthrop, had a desk like this. Winthrop was born in England in 1588 and died in the Colony in 1649. This was at least 50 years before the drop front desk appeared in England and about 100 years before Thomas Chippendale gave it the famous form that commonly bears the governor’s name. In other words, Gov. Winthrop did not have a desk like this. So, who is responsible for the name given to the form of the drop front desk? The Winthrop Furniture Company of Boston has that honor. They introduced a new model of the desk in 1924 and called it the “Gov. Winthrop,” a clever play on words that has polluted the trade vocabulary for more than 80 years.

Is this a Phyfe table? No. It is an 18th century English table made decades before Phyfe’s time.

Another instance of the use, or misuse, of the name of an American historical figure is the case of Duncan Phyfe. Phyfe, whose family name was spelled Fife, was born in Scotland in 1768 and worked first in America in Albany in 1784 before moving to Manhattan around 1790. Phyfe was a talented cabinetmaker, working in the styles of the day, including Sheraton, Federal Neoclassical and Empire. He didn’t retire until 1847, so he saw a lot of styles come and go. But one style that he didn’t see come or go was the “Duncan Phyfe” style. In fact, there is no such style. That little flight of fancy was the result of a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1922 featuring Phyfe’s work. Furniture manufacturers, looking for inspiration in the burgeoning field of the Colonial Revival, immediately attempted to parlay Phyfe’s fame into their own by referring to their revival reproductions as “Duncan Phyfe” style. Now, every dining table in America with curved legs supporting a central pedestal is referred to as a “Duncan Phyfe” table.

The name Beau Brummel is associated with the French form of the poudreuse, a style of dressing table from the 18th century.

But not every furniture misnomer is from America. A notorious philanderer has his name attached to a form of dressing table. In 18th century, France men were as much attuned to their wigs and make up as were the women and a special piece of furniture evolved just for that purpose. Initially the form was called a “poudreuse,” meaning “powder,” more or less, in French. In the slang version it meant “duster of the man” in reference to the generous use of powder both in the wig and on the face. With its many compartments and drawers, the poudreuse was a very rare example of precious mirror glass actually being attached to a piece of furniture before the beginning of the 19th century. The popularity of the furniture pre-dated its common namesake by several decades, but eventually the name of the English dandy George Bryan (Beau) Brummel (1778-1840) became associated with the form and is the most common name attached to the fancy dressing table today.

This famous style table is called a “Pembroke” table even if we don’t know exactly for whom it was named.

Then, of course, there is the famous drop leaf table with the short sides and a drawer, which according to Thomas Chippendale, is the only thing that distinguishes a Pembroke table from a breakfast table. I have found over the years at least nine separate accounts and attributions for the name given to the table. One gives credit to Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621), who allegedly ordered the original design. That’s about 150 years earlier than most other attributions. Another story gives credit to Henry Herbert, the 9th Earl of Pembroke (1693-1751), who was an amateur architect and supposedly designed the table himself. Most commonly the table is ascribed to Chippendale around the middle of the 18th century, who named it for either Lord or Lady Pembroke, who ordered the design. Christie’s states unequivocally that the table is named after the Earl of Pembroke, but gives no dates, while Thomas Sheraton, who was closer to the source, said in his design book that the table was ordered by the Countess of the period. Whatever. At least we know the family from which it derived its name, even if we don’t know exactly which member ordered it or exactly from whom or when. But, at least, that is some improvement.

Knowing the history behind the name of a piece of furniture is like getting more for your money when you buy a piece. It enhances the interest of the piece, a little value added just for the research.

Fred Taylor is a antique furniture Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

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Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423 or info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book “How To Be A Furniture Detective” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address. For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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This is a period Chippendale chair, circa 1770.

Aging with style is almost everyone’s ultimate objective, immediately behind not aging at all. But in this context the word “aging” is being used as a verb as we try to answer the most often asked question about most antiques and collectibles, especially furniture: “How old is it?”

The most tempting thing in the world is to grab a book with pictures of old furniture and find one that is “just exactly like” the piece you are considering purchasing. There it is right there in living color. That proves it, right? Not exactly.

A quick look at a “Chippendale” chair immediately identifies it as a Chippendale chair. It has a pierced splat, a dog ear-eared crest rail, cabriole legs with acanthus carving on the knees and claw and ball feet. All the elements of classical Chippendale styling are present. And what have you learned about the chair from this observation? Nothing except that the elements of a particular style are indeed present. Since Chippendale is one of those classical styles that seems to fit in a great many situations, it has been in more or less continuous production since its introduction in the mid 18th century. Thomas Chippendale basically added some embellishments, piercings, ruffles and flourishes to a Queen Anne-styled background and produced his own namesake characterization.

But that doesn’t tell us anything about the age of a given chair. Granted there are people, mostly art historians, who purport to be able to tell the age of a chair by the angle of the foot or the rake of the back, but when you get right down to it, they, like the rest of us, have to do it the old-fashioned way. We have to look for a series of clues like tool marks, joinery, oxidation, patina, etc. to tell us how old the piece is. In most cases, style is just the pleasing arrangement and decoration of the parts, nothing more.

This is a reproduction of a Chippendale chair, circa 1940. Chippendale has been continuously copied through the years to the point where they are not indicative of age

It is entirely possible that a talented woodworker of any era could look at a picture of a given Chippendale chair and reproduce it exactly, right down to the finest detail of angle of the foot and rake of the back. What he can’t reproduce is all the little things that occur randomly in the building of a chair from a different time. The sharpness of a chisel cut made by the honed edge of an 18th century blade is hard to recreate. The oxidation pattern of a partially exposed inside rail is difficult to duplicate with stain. The random strokes of a tired apprentice with a jack plane are indeed random.

After the initial glance at the Chippendale chair, what we can say for sure is that the chair is made “in the style of” Chippendale. That says nothing about the age, addressing only the form. “In the style of” is not the same as “of the period,” which means it comes from the original period when the style or form was introduced.

This nice little end table looks like a subtle mixing of Empire and Rococo Revival, a frequently seen combination in the 1850s. However, this table is a reproduction piece, made in the 1960s.

Does that mean that style can never be of service in determining the age of a piece of furniture? No. It only points out that many of the traditional styles—Chippendale, Queen Anne, Federal, Regency and even Arts and Crafts, among others—have been continuously copied through the years to the point where they are not indicative of age. Certain other styles however, are unique to a given period or have been more selectively reproduced.

Most of these more-or-less-unique styles came from the 19th century, which, interestingly enough, was the time of the great revival styles. Ideas from centuries past regained popularity in the Victorian era. Among these was Gothic Revival, recreating the trefoils and arches of the 16th century, and Rococo Revival, emulating the French court of the 18th century. This revival of styles produced some variations of the styles that became unique to themselves and have not been reproduced in significant quantity since their original popularity waned.

This is a style that has seldom been reproduced since 1900.

Among these is the medieval simplicity of the designs of the English architect and early proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement, Charles Eastlake. His original straight-line designs and simple chip-carving decorations were extremely compatible with the integration of furniture making into the machine driven factory system of post Civil War America. His designs were taken to wanton excess and reproduced endlessly in the late 19th century. The result has been that they have not been extensively reproduced in the intervening 100 years, and it is safe to say that a piece “in the style of” Eastlake is also “of the period.” A useful concept in aging with style-

Another instance of a style standing on it own is Renaissance Revival. This was a mid-19th century resurrection of mostly Italian Renaissance themes from the 15th and 16th centuries. Again, the factory system played a major part in the popularity of this style, making it the predominant theme of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. This “battleship” furniture, so-called because of its size, featured large-scale architectural elements like pediments and columns and furnished many of the grand hotels and palaces of the Eastern industrial/financial complex. It also has not been reproduced and can be considered “of the period.”

The style of this bed, Renaissance Revival, circa 1875, has seldom been reproduced since the period.

Style can be useful when used as one of the clues to determining the age of a piece of furniture but only in rare instances can it be used as the only clue.

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Fred Taylor is a antique furniture Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423 or info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book “How To Be A Furniture Detective” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address. For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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The same kind of loose language approach has developed in the language of antique furniture. We have come to use proper names to describe a class or type of furniture and the use of these names have become so commonplace that sometimes the real people behind the generic names no longer exist. But I’m not talking about generally descriptive names that denote a large class or style of furniture, like Georgian or even George III. The Louis XV and Victorian labels fall in that same category. Even Chippendale and Eastlake fit here, but all these terms relate to a particular period or stylistic element.

I am referring to that select group of people for whom a very specific form of furniture has been named and the appellation has become so useful as to be generic. When you use the term no further explanation is necessary. Here are some examples of some generic uses of the names of real people.

Murphy Bed: In today’s market, almost any folding bed is called a “Murphy bed.” It is the Kleenex of beds. However, most folding beds are not Murphy beds at all. Murphy patented his first bed in 1900. Folding cabinet beds were very popular in the last quarter of the 19th century, well before Murphy was old enough to invent things.

This is a folding cabinet bed, not a Murphy bed.

Gov. Winthrop Desk: The story goes that the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century, real man named John Winthrop, had a desk like this. Winthrop was born in England in 1588 and died in the Colony in 1649. This was at least 50 years before the drop front desk appeared in England and about 100 years before Thomas Chippendale gave it the famous form that commonly bears the governor’s name. In other words, Gov. Winthrop did not have a desk like this. So who is responsible for the name given to the form of the drop front desk? The Winthrop Furniture Company of Boston has that honor. The company introduced a new model of the desk in 1924 and called it the “Gov. Winthrop,” a clever play on words that has polluted the trade vocabulary for more than 80 years.

The real name for this form is not “Gov. Winthrop.” It is called a bookcase/secretary.

Breuer (not Brewer) Chair: This is the ubiquitous, bent chrome chair with separate seat and back, usually caned in modern pressed cane or “Viennese weaving,” as Marcel Breuer, the designer called it. Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902 and became an important part of the German Bauhaus school of design in the 1920s, where he helped shift the focus from “Arts & Crafts” to “Arts & Technology.” After stops in Paris and London, Breuer came to America in 1937, where his architectural skill was in the forefront for many years. The most reproduced of his works is the bent chrome chair, design #B32, but his most famous chair is the “Wassily” chair, #B3.

Beau Brummel: This a common name given to a form of dressing table made popular in late 18th century France when men paid as much or more attention to their dress and make up as women did. The form was actually known as a “poudreuse” meaning “powder” in French, or, in French slang, “duster of the man,” referring to the generous use of face powder in make up. It was a very rare example of the combination of an attached mirror and wooden case in the 18th century. Fixed mirrors were not usually a part of the dressing table until the early 19th century. The popularization of the poudreuse predated the heyday of the celebrated English dandy, George Bryan Brummel, 1778-1840, by several decades, but his name became associated with the form merely because of his notoriety.

This is a French poudreuse, commonly called a “Beau Brummel.”

Pembroke Table: The true origin of this form of drop leaf table is rather vague, but most people conveniently attribute it to the Countess of Pembroke, who reportedly ordered the first one in the 1750s or 1760s. Who actually designed it is up for further discussion, but Thomas Sheraton was so impressed he called it the universal table and Chippendale introduced one of the first designs with a drawer in 1766. It has been continuously produced for over 250 years and no matter what the style it is always called a “Pembroke.”

Sutherland Table: This last example is a variation of the Pembroke table. It has a flat middle section so narrow as to be unusable as a table until one or both of its deep drop leaves are opened. It was introduced in 1850, almost exactly100 years after the Pembroke form came to light and, interestingly enough, this form of table was named after Harriet Sutherland, who just coincidentally happened to be the Duchess of Pembroke at the time.

A Sutherland table with a very narrow top is also sometimes called a “tuckaway” table.

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Fred Taylor is a Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book “How To Be A Furniture Detective” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address.

For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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Let’s start with one of North America’s oldest furniture styles, the so-called Pilgrim or Puritan style, beginning in the early 1600s. Most of the folks of this period were VERY recent arrivals and the furniture they crafted for themselves had a very familiar look to it. After taking into account what might be called “regional influences”—meaning the Colonies—the style itself is essentially “Jacobean,” that catch-all Latin term referring to England in the time of King James I, Charles I, the Commonwealth, the Restoration, Charles II and James II. In other words, most of the 17th century until William and Mary came along, circa. 1688. The furniture was blocky, big, solid, dark and ungainly, mostly made of oak—just like at home. The Colonists were true to their heritage.

Early in the 18th century the effects of the William and Mary reign became felt in American furniture thought. It took a few years to get here, but the Colonies always lagged behind, transportation being what it was. The Dutch craftsmen employed by William introduced a new, lighter, more comfortable form with bun—or Spanish—feet, elegant turnings and decorations and teardrop pulls, and they influenced Colonial furniture in turn. Some of America’s most prized antiques are Colonial interpretations of William and Mary.

This William & Mary highboy shows the verticality of the new form in the late 17th century.

After William’s death in 1702, Mary’s little sister Anne became Queen of England and the Colonies dutifully imported (belatedly of course) the newest style named after the new queen. The QA style was slim and elegant with graceful curves, subtle decoration, slipper or pad feet and valanced skirts, all in all a very feminine form. This English style also created some of America’s most cherished works.

Just as Thomas Chippendale borrowed the QA style in 1750, adding dog ears, pierced splats and heavy acanthus carving and calling it his own, the Colonies borrowed the new style from Thomas and used it right into the Revolution, being careful not to call it “Georgian,” as the later version of the style was known in England.

A Philadelphia chair circa 1776 shows the rococo changes Chippendale made to the basic Queen Anne chair.

At long last, the Revolution! Surely, this called for a new American styling and so it was called “Federal,” in honor of the new country based on federal, rather than royal principles. So who were the great designers and builders of America’s new furniture? Among the strong stylistic influences were George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton, respected English designers of the period. Also prominent were the Adam brothers, Robert and James, Scottish architects greatly influenced by first century Roman architecture.

The end of a D-end Federal period banquet table shows the influence of Thomas Sheraton in the tapered legs.

On this side of the Atlantic, the best known practitioner of Federal was the Scotsman residing in New York named Duncan Phyfe, whose work was influenced by the early traditional English designers, but also by the Directoire and Empire of France and the Regency of England. Phyfe’s contemporary, Charles-Honore’ Lannuier, recently arrived from France and worked in the Directoire and later Empire field as his contribution to Federal furniture.

By the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, the facade of Federal had fallen to the unabashed Europhile Empire style; Napoleon’s only lasting positive contribution to the world. He had directed his architects to develop a new style for his “Empire,” which they enthusiastically did, combining classical motifs from Egypt and Greece with animistic additions such as carved animal feet and wings. Napoleon of course didn’t make it, but his style survived in England, modified only slightly, as Regency, and in America first as Empire and then in later versions as “Late Classicism” or “Restauration” as late as mid-century.

This classic Empire chair was made by Duncan Phyfe, circa 1820. (Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences photo).

Victoria became queen of England in 1837, and that started a 60-year binge of digging up and recycling styles of the past, politely called “revivals” under the umbrella label of “Victorian,” and America joined the bandwagon. Major revivals of style included Rococo-Louis XV, the revival of a phase of European art of the 18th century featuring rocks (rocailles) and shells (coquilles), Renaissance, a revival of 15th and 16th century Italian styles, Gothic, a revival of 15th century styles which was itself a revival of the 9th century as well as other lesser known revivals.

This chair by Belter illustrates the decorative flavor of the Rococo Revival of the mid 19th century.

A Renaissance Revival bed, circa 1875, reflects the architectural element of the style.

It also included a newer form based on the architectural concepts of an Englishman named Charles Locke Eastlake, whose idea of linear simplicity was driven to absurdity by American factory designers.

A reaction to all this elaborate revival erupted in Europe in the late 19th century, led mainly by William Morris in England and produced the Arts and Crafts movement, quickly embraced in America by Elbert Hubbard who started the Roycroft colony in Aurora, New York, by the Stickley family and by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Thus, it appears that for most of America’s existence, we have mooched our styles from abroad. Then, at last, came the great American contribution to American furniture: In the latter part of the 19th century we started to reproduce our own borrowed history and in the process accidentally produced the one true American style—Colonial Revival.

This 1930s table shows the creative redesign of Colonial styles in this Colonial Revival Depression era interpretation of the Jacobean style. This was our new style.

Fred Taylor is a Worthologist who specializes in American furniture from the Late Classicism period (1830-1850).

Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com. His book “How To Be A Furniture Detective” is now available for $18.95 plus $3 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423.

Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “Identification of Older & Antique Furniture,” ($17 + $3 S&H) and a bound compilation of the first 60 columns of “Common Sense Antiques,” by Fred Taylor ($25 + $3 S&H) are also available at the same address.

For more information call 800-387-6377, fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info [at] furnituredetective [dot] com.

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