,,the                                   
,,cabinetmaker                          
in ,eighteenth-,century                 
,williamsburg     ,giving ,attention to 
the ,city's chief ,craftsmen in the     
,furniture ,way2                 and to 
their ,tools  ,methods of ,working4     
,as interpreted by ,,johannes ,,heuvel  
,master ,cabinetmaker of ,colonial      
,williamsburg                           
,williamsburg ,craft ,series            
,,williamsburg                          
,published by ,colonial ,williamsburg   
,,mcmlxix                               
,the ,cabinetmaker                   in 
,eighteenth-,century ,williamsburg      
,illustration3 ,illustrated capital ,t  
,the most historic piece of furniture in
 historic ,williamsburg today is the    
throne-like ,speaker's ,chair that      
stands in the far end of the ,house of  
,burgesses4  ,it is the very same chair 
that stood there when the portly ,peyton
 ,randolph was speaker of the ,house1   
and men like ,george ,mason and ,thomas 

,jefferson and ,patrick ,henry raised   
aloft in that chamber the banner of     
human liberty4  ,the same chair was     
probably there in #agei1 too1 when a    
newly elected burgess stood in his place
 to receive the plaudits of the ,house  
for his bravery in the ,french and      
,indian ,war4 ,from it ,speaker ,john   
,robinson came to the embarrassed young 
man's rescue with the words3 ,sit down1 
,mr4 ,washington2 your modesty is equal 
to your valour1 and that surpasses the  
power of any language ,i possess4       
,perhaps the ,speaker's ,chair was among
 the several other things that were     
saved--along with the colony's records  
and the portraits of the royal          
family--when flames gutted the ,capitol 
in #agdg4 ,if so1 this chair may be the 
very one installed when the ,capitol    
building was first completed in #agje4  
,the ,assembly had specified that the   
burgesses' chamber should be furnished  
with a large ,armed ,chair for the      
,speaker to sit in1 and a cushion stuft 

with hair ,suitable to it4  ,because of 
these historic associations the         
,speaker's ,chair may seem a most       
fitting key to open this account of     
furniture making in colonial            
,williamsburg4 ,its true aptness to the 
topic1 however1 lies in other           
circumstances3 ,no one knows who made   
the chair or where it was made or even  
when it was made4 ,and this kind of     
uncertainty pervades the entire subject 
of cabinetmaking in eighteenth-century  
,virginia4      ,illustration3 ,a sketch
 of the ,speaker's ,chair1 reproduced   
full     size from the #aggg journal of 
,ebenezer ,hazard1 a ,new ,england      
bookseller1 historian1 and surveyor     
general of the ,post ,office4  ,to      
continue for a moment with the same     
example1 the ,speaker's ,chair has the  
kind of scrolled arms frequently found  
on ,william and ,mary furniture--a style
 that in #agjj was passing out of       
fashion in ,england4 ,its simple        
cabriole legs1 with smooth knees and    

round feet1 are typical of the early    
,queen ,anne style just then coming into
 ,english fashion4 ,the chair bears an  
overall resemblance1 furthermore1 to the
 one that stood in the ,house of        
,commons1 as shown in contemporary      
prints4 ,finally1 a great many items for
 the construction and furnishing of the 
,williamsburg ,capitol were ordered from
 ,london4  ,all these circumstances give
 strong reason to think that the chair  
came from ,england4 ,but they do not    
prove that it did4 ,in fact1 the        
stylistic concepts and the workmanship  
are such as might well have come from   
the shop of a ,williamsburg cabinetmaker
 endeavoring1 after the fire of #agdg1  
to reproduce the original chair from    
memory4  ,the fact that it is           
constructed in part of ,american black  
walnut might seem to prove that the     
chair was made1 if not in ,williamsburg1
 at least in the ,american colonies4    
,unfortunately1 it proves nothing of the
 kind4 ,because1 among other reasons1   

they had found the ,american variety    
less susceptible to the worm than       
,english walnut1 ,english cabinetmakers 
preferred the ,american wood and used it
 extensively4                           
,,goodly ,,tall ,,trees   ,wheresoever  
we landed upon this the ,james ,river1  
wee saw the goodliest ,woods as ,beech1 
,oke1 ,cedar1 ,cypresse1 ,wal-nuts1     
,sassafras1 444 and other ,trees        
unknowne1 wrote ,george ,percy1 one of  
the original ,jamestown colonists in    
#afjg4 ,captain ,john ,smith1 who       
explored and mapped both ,virginia and  
,new ,england1 recorded that all the    
,countrey is overgrowne with trees4     
,indian clearings1 even those made in   
the course of fire-hunting1 were        
infinitesimal in the vast extent of the 
woods4 ,the white man's efforts made a  
bigger dent1 but after a century of     
,english settlement the ,reverend ,hugh 
,jones could still report that ,virginia
 was one continuous forest4 ,and the    
same was true of the whole ,atlantic    

coastal area--to say nothing of the     
wilderness beyond the mountains4  ,the  
size of the individual trees in this    
primeval forest rarely failed to excite 
comment1 beginning with ,george ,percy's
 mention of the goodly tall ,trees he   
saw near ,cape ,henry1 the ,jamestown   
settlers' first landing site4 ,with an  
unlimited supply of very wide boards to 
be had for the sawing1 seventeenth- and 
eighteenth-century colonial             
cabinetmakers found good use for them in
 table tops and leaves1 and the sides   
and tops of chests4 ,boards were often  
#ah to #bj inches wide1 and sometimes   
they measured as much as two feet in    
width4 ,in colonial days even wild      
cherry sometimes stood #ajj feet tall   
and four feet thick4  ,up and down the  
coast of ,america grew an enormous      
variety of trees1 both evergreen and    
deciduous4 ,all of them found some use  
in the colonial home1 from rough-hewn   
structural members to finely crafted    
furniture--and even to common           

hairbrushes and combs4 ,in #aggd        
,william ,aylett of ,king ,william      
,county1 #ej miles from ,williamsburg1  
advertised3    ,,plank and ,,scantling  
to be sold by the ,subscriber at his    
,saw ,mill near   ,aylett's ,warehouse1 
,mattapony ,river1 upon the most        
reasonable   ,terms1 and of the         
following ,kinds1 viz4 ,white ,oak1     
,black ,walnut1   ,sweet ,gum1 ,ash1    
,poplar1 ,birch 7which makes elegant    
,furniture7 best   ,yellow ,heart ,pine 
for ,flooring1 and clear of ,heart and  
,sap if   required1 common high ,land   
and ,slash ,pine for other ,uses4444    
,almost anything could be made of wood1 
and almost everything was1 including    
many of the articles we today are       
familiar with in steel1 iron1 copper1   
aluminum1 alloys1 plastics1 and rubber4 
,pitchforks1 tableware and kitchen      
utensils1 wheels1 axles1 gears and      
bearings1 tool handles and sometimes the
 bodies of tools1 all were made1 at     
least in part1 of wood4                 

,,the ,,woodworking ,,crafts   ,the     
variety of woodworking crafts was almost
 as great as the variety of trees4 ,in  
,williamsburg alone--and ,williamsburg  
was by no means an important center in  
this respect--mention has been found of 
all the following during colonial times3
    cabinetmaker   carpenter   carver   
chairmaker   chaisemaker   chariotmaker 
coachmaker   cooper   gunstocker        
joiner   millwright   sawyer            
shipwright   wheelwright   woodcutter   
,in addition1 there were such related   
crafts as upholsterer1 lumber merchant1 
gilder1 japanner1 and coach painter4    
,eighteenth-century ,williamsburg was   
not1 however1 quite so crowded with     
woodworking craftsmen as this list would
 indicate4 ,for if the guild traditions 
of the ,old ,world required that each   
operation be the monopoly of a specific 
craft1 in the ,new ,world practical     
needs tended to force a merging of      
related crafts4 ,only in a few of the   
big colonial cities--,philadelphia1 ,new

 ,york1 ,boston1 or ,charleston--was    
demand great enough to keep some of the 
specialists going4 ,elsewhere the       
craftsmen of town or village had to be  
versatile--or go hungry4 ,a             
,williamsburg cabinetmaker1 thus1 was   
likely to be also joiner1 carver1 and   
upholsterer--and probably undertaker as 
well4      ,illustration3 ,this         
illustration from ,diderot's famous     
eighteenth-century encyclopedia of the  
arts and sciences shows the     interior
 and lumber yard of a large ,european   
joinery4 ,workers inside     the shop   
are making1 carving1 and fitting various
 elements of     paneling4 ,outside1 to 
the right1 two others are ripping a     
length of     scantling with a pit saw4 
,right here it may be well to explain   
the difference between joinery and      
cabinetmaking as crafts1 always         
remembering that in ,williamsburg and in
 most of colonial ,america both might be
 practiced by the same craftsmen4       
,joinery involved the making and        

installing of paneling1 molding1        
mantel-pieces1 staircases1 and similar  
interior trim in houses4 ,a joiner might
 also make furniture of the plainer     
sort4 ,cabinetmaking demanded skills of 
a higher order to create furniture      
having such refinements as curved       
surfaces1 dovetail joints1 cabriole     
legs1 carved ornamentation1 veneered or 
inlaid surfaces1 and upholstering4      
,joiner and cabinetmaker were both      
concerned basically with fitting        
together pieces of wood to make a whole 
structure4 ,the pieces or parts had to  
be shaped1 of course2 and it was in the 
shaping processes--sawing1 planing1 and 
chiseling--that the worker's real skill 
showed up4 ,pieces properly formed will 
fit together neatly and enduringly1     
while no amount of glue will make a     
sound joint of pieces that do not fit4  
,two crafts always prominent in ,europe 
are noticeably absent from the list of  
,williamsburg woodworking crafts4       
,marquetry1 the intricate inlaying of   

patterns in contrasting woods1 seems not
 to have been much practiced anywhere on
 this side of the ,atlantic2 probably   
,williamsburg cabinetmakers were rarely1
 if ever1 called on for inlay work4 ,the
 absence of turnery from the list1      
however1 does not mean it was unknown   
here but only that ,williamsburg        
cabinetmakers customarily did their own 
lathe work instead of sending it out to 
a specialist4  ,here1 too1 may be the   
best place to make first acquaintance of
 the four ,williamsburg practitioners   
about whom most information survives4   
,they--and the periods of their known   
activity as cabinetmakers in            
,williamsburg--are3 ,peter ,scott1      
#agcb-ge1 who lived across the street   
from ,bruton ,parish ,church and had his
 shop somewhere nearby1 and who was1 for
 forty years1 a member of               
,williamsburg's common council2 ,anthony
 ,hay1 #agea-fg1 whose large ,cabinet   
,maker's ,shop has been re-created on   
its original ,nicholson ,street site1   

who turned innkeeper as host of the     
,raleigh ,tavern1 and whose son ,george1
 as ,united ,states attorney1 prosecuted
 ,aaron ,burr for treason2 ,edmund      
,dickinson1 #agfd-gh1 who probably      
worked in ,hay's shop and eventually    
occupied it as his own master2 and      
,benjamin ,bucktrout1 #agff-gh1 whose   
funeral side line became the chief      
business of his posterity in            
,williamsburg for several generations4  
,,prime ,,furniture ,,woods   ,when     
,anthony ,hay died in #aggj1 his        
executors advertised for sale his two   
lots on ,nicholson ,street including a  
dwelling house1 shop1 and ,timber ,yard4
 ,the reader should not assume from the 
words timber yard that ,hay 7and his    
successors at the same location on      
,nicholson ,street1 ,bucktrout and      
,dickinson7 supplied lumber to the      
town's other users4 ,probably it was    
stocked only for the proprietor's own   
use4 ,in any event1 the kinds of raw    
material that would have been piled in  

,hay's yard can be guessed fairly       
easily4  ,as we shall presently see1 no 
surviving piece of eighteenth-century   
furniture can be positively traced to   
,hay or any other ,williamsburg maker4  
,but every piece having a possible claim
 to local origin1 including the         
,speaker's ,chair1 contains either      
walnut or mahogany as the primary wood4 
,similarly1 few documentary records     
survive to tell about the furniture     
actually made in ,williamsburg shops and
 they do not always mention the kinds of
 wood used4 ,where they do1 however1    
walnut and mahogany are invariably      
specified4 ,finally1 archaeological     
excavation at the site of the ,hay      
cabinet shop turned up a roughed-out    
table leg dating probably from          
,dickinson's occupancy4 ,quite well     
preserved in the damp silt of the stream
 bed1 it was easily identified as       
walnut4 ,all things considered1         
therefore1 ,hay's timber yard would     
surely have contained ample supplies of 

both walnut and mahogany4  ,american    
black walnut1 known in ,england as      
,virginia walnut1 had been the most     
important of native woods to the        
colonial cabinetmaker since the         
seventeenth century4 ,strong1 durable1  
hard enough to resist surface marring in
 daily use but still easy to work and   
carve1 it shows a handsome grain1 has a 
lovely color1 and takes an excellent    
finish4  ,known and infrequently used   
earlier1 mahogany began to arrive in    
quantity both in the colonies and the   
mother country about #agbe4 ,in         
,england1 by the middle of the century1 
it had pushed aside walnut as a         
furniture wood4 ,mahogany never rose to 
the same pre-eminence in the colonies   
because other fine woods were so readily
 available4 ,mahogany was imported from 
,jamaica and ,honduras legally1 from    
,santo ,domingo and ,cuba illicitly via 
,jamaica4 ,the wood from each source    
differed variously in its characteristic
 graining1 color1 strength1 hardness1   

and workability4 ,that from ,santo      
,domingo1 known as ,spanish mahogany1   
was considered most desirable4  ,the    
wood of the wild black cherry was a     
favorite among ,connecticut             
cabinetmakers1 as it was farther south  
too1 because of its natural strength1   
close grain1 warm color1 and resistance 
to splitting and warping4 ,peter ,kalm1 
the ,swedish botanist who visited       
,philadelphia in #agdh1 wrote3    ,the  
,joiners say that among the trees of    
this country they chiefly use   the wild
 cherry trees1 and the curled maple4444 
,the wood of the wild   cherry-trees    
7,prunus ,virginiana7 is very good1 and 
looks exceedingly   well1 it has a      
yellow color1 and the older the         
furniture is1 of which   is made of it1 
the better it looks4 ,but it is already 
difficult to get   at it1 for they cut  
it everywhere1 and plant it nowhere4    
,hay's yard might well have had some    
cherry in its piles of lumber1 though   
probably not in great quantity4 ,it     

might also have included a bit of       
maple--a primary favorite in ,new       
,england--perhaps in some choice pieces 
showing the bird's eye1 curly1 wavy1    
blister1 or quilted grain patterns that 
often occur in this wood4  ,in addition1
 cedar1 hickory1 ash1 beech1 birch1 oak1
 elm1 locust1 apple1 holly1 and other   
hard woods might have been present in   
the ,nicholson ,street timber yard in   
small amounts4 ,all could have found    
appropriate use in some kind of         
cabinetry4                              
,,secondary ,,materials   ,a piece of   
furniture need not be made entirely of  
prime wood1 and rarely was4 ,in the     
parlor of the ,brush-,everard ,house in 
,williamsburg1 for example1 stands a    
sofa made in ,philadelphia about #aggj2 
it has eight legs that show1 made of    
mahogany1 and a frame that does not     
show1 constructed of chestnut1 maple1   
pine1 and tulip poplar4 ,not every      
article can boast so many secondary     
woods1 though the colonial cabinetmaker 

had a wide choice4 ,the                 
secretary-bookcase in the library of the
 same house was possibly made in        
,williamsburg and shows the more usual  
combination of walnut and pine as       
primary and secondary woods4  ,colonial 
cabinetmakers customarily selected a    
secondary wood that answered the        
construction requirements of the article
 in question and that was locally       
available and therefore cheap4 ,the     
secondary wood in a piece of colonial   
furniture is often the best clue to the 
place where it was made4 ,yellow pine   
and tulip poplar were most often used in
 ,virginia and the other southern       
colonies2 ,hay and his successors would 
doubtless have stocked goodly amounts of
 both1 and very likely also some white  
cedar and cypress4  ,probably no list of
 the materials that might have been used
 in colonial cabinetry can hope to be   
complete4 ,none1 certainly1 could       
pretend to completeness that did not    
include a word about nails1 screws1     

glue1 and cabinet hardware4  ,the       
colonial cabinetmaker used heated animal
 glue regularly4 ,it was indispensable  
for veneering2 for attaching carved     
surfaces and ornaments to their plain   
foundations it was almost as important2 
and any joint1 however carefully made1  
was stouter for a bit of adhesive4  ,the
 eighteenth-century upholsterer1 of     
course1 could not have done his work    
without brass tacks1 and quantities of  
them have been found in the course of   
archaeological excavation at the site of
 the ,hay-,bucktrout-,dickinson cabinet 
shop on ,nicholson ,street4 ,the        
colonial cabinetmaker sometimes used    
small nails for such special purposes as
 attaching drawer guides4 ,but he would 
no more have nailed together a piece of 
furniture than would his modern         
counterpart4 ,screws he did use1 for    
attaching cleats1 braces1 hinges1 or    
other hardware4 ,he used as few as      
possible1 however1 since all screws were
 handmade1 probably imported1 and       

certainly not cheap4 ,if a joint needed 
to be reinforced1 he used wooden pegs1  
not screws4 7,treenails1 used in house  
framing1 were simply large pegs47  ,even
 the simplest piece of case             
furniture--such as a chest1 press1      
bookcase1 clock case1 dressing table1 or
 sideboard--needed at least one lock and
 possibly a set of hinges before it     
could leave the cabinetmaker's hands as 
a finished article4 ,these items of     
hardware could be of iron on the cruder 
examples of cabinet work or of brass on 
the better ones4 ,the door handles1     
drawer pulls1 escutcheon plates1 and    
other visible hardware on finer pieces  
were almost sure to be of brass1 to be  
designed for ornament as well as        
utility1 and to be imported4  ,a number 
of brass hardware items--whole and      
cut-down hinges and escutcheon plates in
 particular--have been excavated at the 
site of the ,hay shop1 most of them in  
ground levels associated with           
,dickinson's tenure4 ,these seem to say 

that ,dickinson was accustomed to       
working with fine furniture4            
,,scraps ,,of ,,evidence   ,a great deal
 of authentic eighteenth-century        
furniture--both ,english and ,american  
in origin--has been assembled for       
display in the ,exhibition ,buildings of
 restored ,williamsburg4 ,the collection
 is acknowledged to be one of the finest
 in the country4 ,unfortunately1 it     
contains not one stick of furniture that
 can be positively identified as coming 
from the hand of a ,williamsburg        
cabinetmaker4  ,we do have1 however1    
many bits and pieces of documentary     
evidence about various ,williamsburg    
cabinetmakers of the colonial era and   
about the kind of work they did4 ,a     
number of them1 for example1 advertised 
their services in the columns of the    
,virginia ,gazette from time to time4   
,practitioners of other crafts often    
listed at great length the wares they   
made and sold2 but the cabinetmakers    
usually announced only that they stood  

ready to make to order any kind of      
furniture4 ,they were confidently       
versatile1 it would seem2 that they kept
 busy making and doing all sorts of     
things is corroborated by other scraps  
of written and printed information4     
,joshua ,kendall1 when he set up shop in
 ,williamsburg1 offered to make         
,venetian ,,sun ,,blinds for windows4   
,illustration3 ,venetian blinds were    
widely made and used in both     the    
,old ,world and the ,new4 ,this         
how-to-do-it illustration also comes    
from ,diderot's encyclopedia4  ,in #agee
 ,peter ,scott announced that he        
intended to leave for ,england and would
 sell his house and lots1 ,two ,negroes1
 bred to the ,business of a             
,cabinet-,maker1 and sundry ,pieces of  
,cabinet ,work1 of ,mahogany and        
,walnut1 consisting of ,desks1          
,book-,cases1 ,tables of various ,sorts1
 ,tools1 and some ,materials4           
,apparently his plan did not            
materialize1 for when he died #bj years 

later his estate included ,a great      
variety of cabinet makers tools1        
,mahogany1 ,walnut1 ,pine ,plank1 like  
wise new walnut book cases1 desks1      
tables1 c4  ,from personal account books
 of ,john ,mercer1 lawyer1 and ,robert  
,carter of ,nomini ,hall1 planter and   
councilor1 we know that ,scott made a   
set of book shelves for the former and  
twice repaired tables for him1 and that 
he made two card tables1 one sideboard1 
and four picture frames for the latter4 
,in #aggb ,benjamin ,bucktrout submitted
 a bill for services to the same ,robert
 ,carter of ,nomini ,hall4 ,it is worth 
quoting in full3    #aggb               
s d   ,june #ae     ,to mending a       
,meusick ,stand                      #j 
#a   #f   ,octbr4 #bf   ,to #h ,mahogy4 
,chares ,stufed over the ,rails      #af
  #ac   #h               with ,brass    
nails #be_/pr doz4               ,to #d 
,elbow ,chares  #ee_/                   
#aa   #j   #j   ,decemr4 #bi  ,to #fe   
feet of pine  d #a                      

#h  #c               ,to #aej #h;d nails
 for a packing ,case for             #ab
   #j               ,harpsecord #b_/    
makeing and packing do4 #aj_/           
#bh  #ae  #e  ,three years later ,edmund
 ,dickinson rendered a similar          
statement3    ,the ,estate ,colo ,john  
,prentis   ,to ,edmund ,b4 ,dickinson   
,dr                ,novr #bc;d #aggc    
setting up bedsted #b_/f ,july #ith     
mend3         #a   #b   #f              
,cleaning up #f chairs                  
#aeth puting lock on closet             
#b   #f               #ai coffin for his
 ,son ,william with ,nails c     #b  #ae
   -               and attendance       
#aggd        ,jany #c;d to #g pulleys   
#ag_/f ,january #ba setting    #a   -   
-               up bed at ,mrs ,hay's   
#b_/f               ,april #be takeing  
down bedsted #b_/f                   #b 
#f   #agge        ,june #ad mend3       
bedsted #a_/c augt #bc;d puting         
#c   #c               lock on ,room case
 #b_/               ,sept #fth mend3    

,mahogany table                       #b
   #f               #be putting up      
bedsted  ,curtains                    #b
   #f               ,novr #d to a       
,coffin lined throughout for         #e 
#ae   #j               himself  my      
,attendance                             
#aa   #e   #i  ,putting together these  
and other bits and pieces1 several      
conclusions seem warranted3             
,williamsburg cabinetmakers made        
furniture not only to order but for open
 sale in their shops2 they probably     
spent more time repairing furniture than
 in making it2 they were by no means too
 proud to undertake such incidental jobs
 as putting up and taking down bedsteads
 and curtains4 ,finally1 they were      
capable of producing any and all of the 
major items of furniture3 chairs1 beds1 
chests1 desks1 bookcases1 clothes and   
china presses1 tables1 and candlestands4
  ,while perhaps not all of them would  
have had occasion to make every variety 
of the less common articles1 some       

doubtless were called on for spinning   
wheels1 bootjacks1 bowls and trenchers1 
cradles1 toys1 tools1 coffins1 spice    
chests1 fire screens1 music stands1     
trunks1 cellarettes1 looking-glass      
frames1 and so on and on4               
,,the ,,latest ,,london ,,styles        
,every swing in ,london fashions in     
clothing1 music1 wigs1 and the          
decorative arts was normally echoed a   
few years later by a similar but muted  
swing in colonial fashions4 ,in each    
case the peak of the vogue 7not         
necessarily the first evidence of it7 in
 the colonies came a decade or two after
 the same style had reached its height  
in ,london4  ,the eighteenth century was
 the golden age of furniture design in  
,england4 ,the decorative tastes of the 
,restoration and of the reign of        
,william and ,mary set the stage for the
 appearance at the opening of the       
century of the curvaceous style known as
 ,queen ,anne4 ,there followed a        
succession of partly overlapping1       

sometimes ill-defined and sometimes     
distinct styles in ,english furniture   
design and interior design4 ,these      
succeeding fashions have since become   
known by the names of reigning monarchs 
or of men whose books of collected      
designs set or summarized the           
predominant taste of the years in       
question4 ,we know these styles1 and    
style periods1 as early and late        
,georgian1 ,chippendale1 ,adam1         
,hepplewhite1 and ,sheraton4  ,in the   
,american colonies the ,queen ,anne     
style did not come into full flower     
until #agbe or thereabouts4 ,the        
decorated ,queen ,anne or early         
,georgian substyles cannot be clearly   
discerned in colonial furniture before  
the advent of ,chippendale influence1   
about #agej1 swept all before it4       
,thomas ,chippendale's famous ,gentleman
 and ,cabinet-,maker's ,director1       
published in #aged1 was but one of a    
number of books of designs issued in    
,london and widely used in colonial     

cabinetmaking shops4 ,it was foremost   
among them1 however4 ,and even if such  
characteristic features of colonial     
,chippendale as the claw-and-ball foot1 
for example1 do not appear in           
,chippendale's book1 his name has become
 a label--perhaps ill-fitting--for the  
whole middle period of colonial         
furniture making4      ,illustration3   
,chairs4      ,three design chairs--the 
one to the right offering alternative   
treatments of certain details--from     
,chippendale's ,gentleman and           
,cabinet-,maker's ,director3 ,being a   
large ,collection of the ,most          
,elegant and ,useful ,designs of        
,household ,furniture1 in the ,most     
,fashionable ,taste4 7,third edition1   
,london1 #agfb7  ,this period lasted    
through the ,revolution2 the wartime    
breach of relations with ,england all   
but cut off the transfer to ,america of 
the ,adam style that was the rage of    
,london in the #aggj's4 ,after the      
,revolution the designs of ,george      

,hepplewhite and1 late in the century1  
,thomas ,sheraton followed the usual    
route across the ,atlantic4  ,throughout
 the century1 too1 some regional        
differences can be discerned4 ,new      
,england followed old ,england in social
 customs and tastes but with a tinge of 
stateliness and a restraint of design in
 furniture that may have had distant    
,puritan ancestry4 ,in ,new ,york1      
certainly1 the ideas of the original    
,dutch settlers persisted in coloring   
later ,english influences in matters of 
taste4 ,german immigrants to            
,pennsylvania brought sturdy            
non-,english preferences to the areas   
they settled outside ,philadelphia4 ,the
 city itself1 of course1 always remained
 a cosmopolitan center--if a somewhat   
sober one--whose furniture showed the   
,english origins of many of its chief   
makers4  ,the southern colonies1 and    
particularly ,virginia1 were more       
closely tied to the mother country in   
sentiment and economy than were the     

others4 ,virginians1 therefore1 probably
 mirrored ,english tastes more          
faithfully than many of their           
compatriots4                            
,,apron-,,string ,,effects   ,english   
products were so much admired in        
,virginia1 in fact1 and so easily       
obtained by those who could afford      
choice things1 that the local artisan   
had little chance to compete4 ,whether  
cause or consequence of this lack of    
demand for their services1 ,virginia    
cabinetmakers appear to have been less  
highly skilled and less highly schooled 
in the craft than their colleagues in   
,london and in a number of large        
colonial cities4 ,there was no school of
 cabinetry in eighteenth-century        
,williamsburg such as developed in      
,philadelphia1 ,newport1 ,charleston1   
and elsewhere4  ,a ,virginian who wanted
 fine furniture might order it from one 
of these cities4 ,more likely1 he would 
buy it at a sale of venture furniture   
made in a northern or middle colony and 

shipped south to be sold for the best   
price it would bring4 ,or1 he could send
 to ,england for his wants4  ,this was  
not so difficult a transaction as might 
at first appear4 ,tobacco was the source
 of ,virginia's wealth1 and tobacco had 
to be shipped to ,england for sale4 ,the
 typical large ,tidewater planter       
consigned his annual crop to an ,english
 merchant who received1 handled1 and    
sold it4 ,after expense deductions1 the 
balance in the merchant's hands         
represented the planter's profits4      
,what was more natural than to spend it 
right there in ,england8 ,articles of   
,english make were thought 7usually with
 reason7 to be of better material and   
workmanship than country made pieces1   
and they were undeniably more in        
fashion4 ,the tobacco ships were        
returning to ,virginia anyway1 needed   
freight for their holds1 and could      
unload almost at the planter's front    
door4 ,as a result of these             
circumstances1 it was customary to send 

with each shipment of tobacco an order  
for goods to be sent back4  ,this       
dependence on the ,english market did   
not prevail--at least to the same       
extent--outside of the ,chesapeake ,bay 
area4 ,in consequence1 cabinetmakers as 
far apart as ,boston and ,charleston    
produced to order some very fine pieces 
of furniture4 ,some few examples bear   
the maker's signature or shop label2    
others can be identified with confidence
 because of characteristic traits in    
their design or execution4              
,cabinetmakers of the ,townsend-,goddard
 dynasty in ,newport1 ,rhode ,island1   
produced block-fronted and shell-carved 
case pieces that sparkle in many museums
 today4 ,thomas ,affleck1 ,jonathan     
,gostelowe1 ,benjamin ,randolph1 and    
others in ,philadelphia made that city a
 center of pre-,revolutionary cabinetry1
 and created the ,philadelphia          
,chippendale school of furniture design4
  ,virginia cabinetmakers1 too1 rarely  
labeled or signed their products2 or if 

they did1 the products have not survived
 in more than a very few examples4 ,what
 is known to be of ,virginia origin is  
rarely ornate4 ,the examples to be seen 
in ,williamsburg today1 for instance1   
are truly provincial3 sturdy1 generally 
well-proportioned1 capably made1 and    
inclined to be simple in decoration4    
,,made ,,in ,,williamsburg8   ,in two of
 the bedrooms at the ,brush-,everard    
,house in ,williamsburg and in one at   
the ,raleigh ,tavern stand commodious   
pieces of furniture that today would    
probably have to be called cupboards4   
,the eighteenth-century housewife called
 them clothes presses1 and they served  
her as a place to keep the family's     
entire supply of bedding and clothing   
not in daily use4  ,two of these pieces 
are extremely simple in design1 so      
simple that they may be said to lack any
 conscious design at all4 ,some two     
hundred years of use testify to the     
sturdiness of their construction2 but   
they were clearly not made for show4    

,the third--the one in the ground floor 
bedroom of the ,brush-,everard          
,house--is more sophisticated4 ,it is of
 mahogany and southern pine rather than 
of walnut and pine as are the other two4
 ,it has ogee-curved bracket feet       
instead of straight bracket feet4 ,and  
it boasts a nicely made fretwork        
cornice4  ,these touches do not make it 
a distinguished piece of furniture or an
 overly beautiful one4 ,however1 the    
importance of these three pieces lies   
not in their appearance1 but rather in  
the fact that all three have been handed
 down from generation to generation in  
the ,galt family of ,williamsburg and   
are believed to have been made by one of
 the town's eighteenth-century          
cabinetmakers4  ,samuel ,galt followed  
the watchmaking and silversmithing craft
 in ,williamsburg from #agej until his  
death4 ,his older son1 ,james1 was also 
a silversmith until he became1 in #aggj1
 the first keeper of the ,lunatick      
,hospital in ,williamsburg4 ,the younger

 son1 ,john ,minson ,galt1 acquired a   
medical education in ,edinburgh and     
,london1 then became a partner in ,dr4  
,james ,pasteur's apothecary and        
chirurgical establishment in            
,williamsburg4  ,unfortunately the ,galt
 family tradition does not say which of 
,williamsburg's eighteenth-century      
craftsmen created the articles in       
question4 ,the most prominent           
pre-,revolutionary cabinetmakers were   
all active during some part of the      
period when the ,galts1 father and sons1
 were founding the family's name and    
fame4 ,it is possible1 judging from     
appearance alone1 that the two simpler  
pieces could have been made for the     
earliest ,galt by the earliest 7known7  
cabinetmaker1 ,peter ,scott1 while the  
third was constructed for a later and   
more pretentious household by a later   
craftsman1 perhaps ,edmund ,dickinson4  
,dickinson was well equipped to make    
better furniture than any of these three
 clothes presses4 ,an apprentice in     

,anthony ,hay's cabinet shop on         
,nicholson ,street1 he may have stayed  
on as journeyman during ,benjamin       
,bucktrout's proprietorship of the shop 
and timber yard4 ,in any case1 he became
 master of the establishment himself in 
#agga4 ,seven years later1 serving as an
 officer in the ,revolutionary army1 he 
was killed at the ,battle of ,monmouth4 
,the appraisers of ,dickinson's         
estate--one of them was                 
,bucktrout--valued his possessions at   
the respectable total of #afd #fs4 #f;d4
 ,about #bj of this represented         
,dickinson's library of #dj volumes4    
,some of these had probably been        
gathered by ,hay in the first place1 but
 it was still a large and wide-ranging  
collection of books for a craftsman4 ,in
 addition to a copy of ,chippendale's   
,designs valued by itself at #f1 there  
were books of poetry and history1       
,english and ,french dictionaries1 and  
many volumes of the ,tatler1 the        
,spectator1 and the ,connoisseur4       

,,the ,,compleat ,,tool ,,chest         
,another section of the ,dickinson      
inventory demands particular attention  
here3 the list of the cabinetmaker's    
tools4 ,these were valued by the        
appraisers at close to #ej1 and included
 #ha planes of different sorts1 #aa     
saws1 one stock or brace and #bj bits1  
#fc chisels and gouges1 four clamps and 
a bench vise1 a dozen miscellaneous     
items1 and a tool box4                  
,illustration3 ,a cabinetmaker's        
workbench and a variety of              
woodworking tools of the eighteenth     
century4 ,among them may be seen        
several bench planes1 two kinds of frame
 saw1 an assortment of     chisels1 some
 measuring and marking tools1 a brace   
and bit1 gimlets1     etc4 ,this        
illustration is taken from ,joseph      
,moxon's ,mechanick     ,exercises1     
published in ,london in #afhc4  ,no     
doubt most of these tools were made in  
,england1 though the inventory does not 
say so4 ,perhaps all of them were4      

,three years before ,dickinson became   
master of his shop--just about the time 
he would have been acquiring many of his
 tools--,john ,blair1 the acting        
governor of the colony1 reported to the 
,board of ,trade in ,london that3       
,our pig-iron and some bar-iron is      
chiefly shipped to ,britain4 ,we do     
not make a saw1 augur1 gimlet1 file or  
nails1 nor steel2 and most   tools in   
the country are imported from ,britain4 
,the inventory does not list hammers1   
files1 or rasps of any kind1 which is   
surprising as they would have been      
normal and necessary equipment in any   
woodworking shop--and a number of the   
latter have been found at the site of   
the ,hay-,dickinson shop4 ,perhaps the  
appraisers overlooked them4  ,however1  
the inventory does not list workbenches 
or lathes either1 which is the more     
surprising4 ,a workbench is an absolute 
necessity for cabinet work1 a lathe only
 a little less so1 and neither is likely
 to be overlooked4 ,it may be that the  

appraisers did not list them as tools   
because they were deemed to be permanent
 shop fixtures4 ,at any rate1 while we  
have no proof that ,dickinson owned     
either a bench or a lathe1 reason says  
he would have had at least one of each4 
,matthew ,tuell1 a carpenter1 owned a   
wheel lathe and turning tools2 and the  
partnership of ,honey  ,harrocks owned  
lathes1 did their own turning1 and      
possibly turned for other cabinetmakers4
  ,eighteenth-century lathes were       
machine tools of a sort but not power   
tools since human muscle provided their 
motive force4 ,three varieties can be   
seen in the reconstructed cabinet shop  
in ,williamsburg3 the bow lathe1 the    
treadle lathe1 and the great wheel      
lathe4 ,the last named is the most      
impressive and the most effective1      
turning up some #gjj rpm on the spindle 
with a good strong apprentice cranking  
the large wheel4  ,the power woodworking
 lathe today is a considerably more     
complicated machine1 but the fundamental

 principles involved in wood turning    
have not changed4 ,similarly1 in the    
other great category of woodworking     
tools--hand tools--each separate        
operation is accomplished in precisely  
the same way by tools that are basically
 the same as they were in the eighteenth
 century1 or even in the eighteenth     
century ,b4,c4      ,illustration3      
,turner4      ,a turner1 whose treadle  
lathe spins at different speeds         
according     to which spindle pulley is
 used for the drive belt4 ,this picture 
is     taken from ,the ,book of ,trades 
or ,library of ,useful ,arts1 first     
,american edition1 published by ,jacob  
,johnson and sold in his     bookstores 
in ,philadelphia and ,richmond in #ahjg4
 ,courtesy1 ,library     of ,congress4  
,with obvious exceptions1 all           
woodworking tools are intended primarily
 to remove small amounts of material by 
some kind of cutting or tearing action4 
,with this simple fact in mind1 it is no
 surprise to learn that saws1 planes1   

chisels1 and boring tools found in      
ancient ,egyptian tombs1 or depicted by 
artists of that time1 were not          
significantly different from those of   
the eighteenth century after ,christ4   
7,examples of furniture made in ancient 
,egypt1 incidentally1 still exist1 the  
oldest known articles being stools      
dating at least from the ,first         
,dynasty--#cejj ,b4,c467 ,nor should it 
be surprising to find that the colonial 
cabinetmaker's tools1 although cruder   
and less convenient than those sold in a
 modern hardware store1 were            
fundamentally the same and did the same 
jobs in the same ways4 ,furthermore1 in 
the hands of a skilled craftsman the    
eighteenth-century tools performed their
 assigned tasks every bit as well as do 
their twentieth-century counterparts4   
,,plain ,,planes ,,and ,,fancy ,,ones   
,if it appears that ,dickinson's #ha    
planes were far more than any           
cabinetmaker needed1 the number is      
easily explained by the likelihood that 

only a few were bench planes1 the rest  
being fitting-planes or specially shaped
 molding planes4  ,then as now the bench
 plane category included a group of     
flat-bottomed planes used for smoothing1
 leveling1 and squaring pieces of wood4 
,varying in length from the smoothing   
plane of about #f inches to the jointer 
of perhaps #cj inches1 the group        
included also the trying plane1 long    
plane1 fore plane1 jack plane1 and      
strike block4  ,fitting planes were     
those--each designed for a particular   
purpose--used to prepare pieces of wood 
for fitting together4 ,this group       
included planes for making rabbets1     
tongues1 grooves1 and similar shapes1   
and having such names as the plough1    
match1 fillister1 and moving fillister4 
,the last was essentially a rabbet plane
 with an adjustable fence to guide the  
width of its cut1 often an adjustable   
stop to regulate the depth of cut1 and  
sometimes a routing bit or tooth just   
ahead of the leading edge of the main   

blade4  ,the third and largest group in 
any eighteenth-century tool collection  
included the molding planes for         
producing ornamental trim in an almost  
infinite variety of shapes4 ,in the     
absence of machine-made millwork in     
stock sizes and profiles1 the colonial  
woodworker had to produce his own4 ,in  
some instances1 he may even have made   
his own molding planes first4  ,the     
eighteenth-century plane was a simple   
but effective device4 ,it had only three
 basic parts3 a body1 an iron1 and a    
wedge4 ,the body or stock was a         
rectangular block of beech 7or some     
other hard wood7 with a shaped vertical 
opening through the center4 ,the iron1  
inserted into this opening1 was held at 
the proper pitch and blade exposure by  
tapping the wedge tightly into position4
 ,handles were usually attached to the  
larger planes4  ,on a bench plane the   
bottom or sole of the stock was flat1 of
 course1 and this was particularly      
important for a jointer1 whose sole had 

to be perfectly true4 ,but the sole of a
 molding plane was shaped to fit the    
curve or angle or combination of        
surfaces its blade would produce4 ,since
 even a simple quarter-round molding    
might on occasion be needed in several  
different sizes for different uses1 the 
well-equipped cabinetmaker would need   
perhaps nine planes right there4        
,george ,washington's well-known order  
of goods from ,london for the furnishing
 of ,mount ,vernon in #agei included in 
a long list of tools not only a         
considerable number of bench and fitting
 planes1 but about #ej molding planes3  
#aj pr ,hollows  ,rounds1 #d two ,square
 ,asticles astragals1 #f ,ogees1 #a     
,snipes ,bill1 #d ,quarter ,rounds1 #d  
,sash ,plains1 #c ,bead ,ditto1 #f      
,ovelos4 ,to these a cabinetmaker would 
have added ogive1 reed1 flute1 beaded   
flute1 fillet and fascia combinations1  
and other molding profiles favored on   
eighteenth-century furniture4           
,remembering that a number of these     

shapes too1 might have been needed in   
more than one size1 ,dickinson's #ha    
planes begin to seem hardly enough4     
,illustration3 ,several shapes of       
molding planes1 with the irons of       
corresponding profile2 also a moving    
fillister in the lower part of     the  
picture4 ,this illustration and the two 
that follow it are taken     from a     
three-volume eighteenth-century ,french 
manual on woodworking     by            
,andre-,jacob ,roubo4                   
,,big ,,saws ,,and ,,little ,,chisels   
,the familiar carpenter's handsaw1 with 
a blade wide and stiff enough to cut on 
the push stroke1 was not unknown in     
colonial times and ,dickinson apparently
 had one4 ,but various kinds of frame   
and back saws were much more common4    
,dickinson had one large frame saw--its 
valuation at #e indicates it must have  
been of good quality as well as         
good-sized--that was probably a pit saw4
 ,this was a two-man affair for ripping 
logs into boards4 ,a whip saw 7one of   

these was also listed7 was like a modern
 two-man crosscut saw4  ,dickinson also 
possessed a small frame saw1 a bow saw1 
a tenant 7tenon7 saw1 a panel saw1 a    
sash saw1 and three dovetail saws4 ,the 
latter three1 called dovetailed in the  
inventory1 were back saws with short    
blades and very fine teeth4 ,the tenon  
saw might have been either a back or a  
frame saw1 as both varieties were used  
in cutting the tenons for mortise       
joints4 ,vagaries in craft nomenclature 
leave us in doubt about the precise     
appearance of many tools1 including     
,dickinson's panel and sash saws4       
,except that it was doubtless made of   
wood rather than steel and had a        
somewhat different chuck1 ,dickinson's  
bit stock would have resembled the      
boring brace in any modern tool box4    
,his #bj bitts1 however1 probably lacked
 the spiral shank of their present      
descendants and thus required           
considerably more skill on the part of  
the user to bore a straight hole4       

,chisels and gouges1 of which ,dickinson
 had a total of #ec1 have not changed in
 appearance or structure over many      
centuries4 ,like other tools1 they come 
in different shapes and sizes and some  
possess special designs for special     
purposes4 ,of ,dickinson's collection1  
#dg were carving chisels and gouges1    
which argues that he did his own        
carving4 ,however1 one of the two       
carvers known to have worked in         
eighteenth-century ,williamsburg was    
,george ,hamilton1 a journeyman in      
,dickinson's shop in #aggd4 ,the other1 
,james ,wilson1 worked with or for      
,anthony ,hay some twenty years earlier4
  ,dickinson's #f ,morticeing           
,chissels--along with his tenant saw and
 fitting planes--serve as reminders that
 the basic techniques of cabinetmaking  
have likewise changed little through the
 years4  ,in the making of an article of
 furniture the component pieces must be 
attached to each other at various       
points3 sometimes side-by-side with     

grain running parallel1 sometimes end to
 end1 or end into side1 or crossing one 
another4 ,at each juncture the          
cabinetmaker had his choice of a number 
of joints that were appropriate in such 
a situation4 ,the eighteenth-century    
craftsman knew them all and was skilled 
in the making of all those used today3  
butt1 lap1 rabbet1 tongue and groove1   
mortise and tenon1 mitre1 dado1         
dovetail1 and their numerous            
combinations and variations4  ,in       
cabinetmaking the most useful joints are
 undoubtedly the mortise and tenon and  
the dovetail1 the former for joining    
structural members at right angles1 the 
latter for holding together adjacent    
sides of drawers1 chests1 boxes1 and the
 like4 ,both kinds of joints are very   
strong if well made1 weak if poorly     
fitted4 ,skill and experience1 thus1    
were 7and are7 prerequisite to good     
furniture making4                       
,,on ,,the ,,surface   ,some veneering  
appeared on colonial furniture at least 

by the beginning of the eighteenth      
century4 ,but it was not widely         
practiced1 in part because fine cabinet 
woods were relatively cheap and in part1
 no doubt1 because making veneer by hand
 required a good deal of skilled work   
and labor was relatively expensive4 ,in 
any case1 it was the large and otherwise
 unadorned surfaces of ,hepplewhite and 
,sheraton furniture that invited matched
 veneering4 ,since these fashions came  
to ,america after the ,revolution and   
after ,williamsburg had passed its      
apogee1 ,williamsburg cabinetmakers     
probably did little if any veneering4   
,illustration3 ,two men with a          
good-sized but fine-toothed frame saw   
here cut a log into thin slices of      
veneer4                                 
,,roubo  ,applying a finish to woodwork 
is an ancient art and has always served 
two purposes3 to give the wood a        
protective coating and to enhance its   
appearance4 ,by the eighteenth century  
the techniques for applying several     

different kinds of finish were well     
understood and widely used in the       
colonial cabinet shop4  ,painting1      
generally limited to the cheapest sort  
of furniture1 was little practiced by   
quality cabinetmakers4 ,the imitation of
 oriental lacquer called japanning was  
not common in the colonies1 and in any  
case was the province of the japanner4  
,the cabinetmaker favored oil1 wax1 or  
varnish finishes to produce a hard1     
transparent1 and glassy-smooth surface4 
,to prepare the surface of the wood1    
colonial cabinetmakers had planes1      
scrapers1 glasspaper1 and sandpaper--the
 latter two available by the late       
eighteenth century and probably much    
before that4 ,stains were used to enrich
 the natural color and emphasize the    
grain of the wood1 and pulverized chalk1
 plaster of ,paris1 or the like was used
 to fill the pores of coarse-grained    
woods4  ,wax1 usually beeswax melted and
 mixed with turpentine1 was cheap1 easy 
to apply1 and easy to renew4 ,rubbed on1

 allowed to dry1 and polished with a    
cloth--and repeated by generations of   
industrious housewives or servants--wax 
produced a beautiful finish1 especially 
on mahogany or cherry4  ,linseed oil    
thinned with turpentine was frequently  
the only finish applied on these and    
other hard1 close-grained woods4 ,the   
mixture was applied generously1 allowed 
to stand for several hours1 and wiped   
off4 ,the surface was then rubbed for   
hours with the bare hand or a piece of  
cloth or felt1 and the process was      
repeated again and again until the wood 
showed a fine rich sheen4  ,as the wood 
absorbed the oil its grain rose slightly
 and had to be smoothed down again      
between coats4 ,sheraton advocated a    
technique that combined filling1 oiling1
 and smoothing in one operation3 the oil
 was poured on and allowed to stand1    
then sprinkled with fine brick dust and 
rubbed with a cloth4 ,the brick dust    
filled the grain and combined with the  
oil to form a putty that was mildly     

abrasive and would1 ,sheraton said1     
secure a fine polish by continued       
rubbing4  ,eighteenth-century           
cabinetmakers employed both oil         
varnishes and spirit varnishes4 ,the    
former was made by dissolving a natural 
resin--copal was one of the most        
commonly used--in hot oil and thinning  
with turpentine4 ,the only spirit       
varnish of importance was that made of  
lac--in the form of stick lac1 seed lac1
 or shell lac--dissolved in alcohol4    
7,lac is the resinous secretion of an   
insect encrusted on the twigs of certain
 ,east ,indian trees47  ,the application
 of a varnish required less labor than  
wax or oil but more skill4 ,it was      
flowed on1 allowed to dry1 and rubbed   
down with a fine abrasive4 ,this was    
repeated with as many coats as might be 
necessary1 and wax applied as a final   
coat4 ,eighteenth-century               
,anglo-,american cabinetmakers seem to  
have preferred lac varnishes1           
particularly shellac1 for walnut        

furniture1 wax and oil finishes for     
mahogany4                               
,,williamsburg ,,workshops   ,the       
elegant grounds of the ,governor's      
,palace in ,williamsburg seem at first  
glance a most unlikely site for a       
cabinetmaker's shop1 especially in the  
time of ,lord ,dunmore4 ,his ,majesty's 
last and unlamented viceroy in ,virginia
 was no basement do-it-yourselfer4 ,but 
after the ,revolution his claim for the 
value of lost possessions included ,a   
quantity of ,mahogany and other ,woods2 
with tools for four ,cabinet ,makers4   
,although ,dunmore's tools and lumber   
were probably destined for the          
plantation he was seating near ,warm    
,springs as a private venture1 the      
possibility cannot be dismissed that    
some furniture work was done at the     
,palace4 ,at one spot on the grounds    
several items of cabinet hardware have  
been excavated4 ,and the amount of      
furniture in an establishment as big as 
the ,palace could no doubt have kept a  

man busy just repairing the everyday    
wear and tear4  ,whatever the situation 
under the royal governors1 however1 the 
practice in #aggf was to have such work 
done in the shops of the town's private 
entrepreneurs4 ,when ,patrick ,henry was
 about to take up residence as the      
independent commonwealth's first chief  
executive1 the state government issued  
warrants to several ,williamsburg       
cabinetmakers for making or repairing   
,palace furniture4 ,honey and ,harrocks 
received a little more than #ai for     
mending #bh chairs there2 #ba went to a 
certain ,richard ,booker 7about whose   
identity there remains great            
uncertainty7 for making some chairs2 and
 our friend ,edmund ,dickinson took in  
#ib for furniture furnished the         
,pallace4  ,judging by ,bucktrout's     
charge of #be per dozen for straight    
chairs and #af for a mahogany desk and  
bookcase1 ,dickinson was dealing with   
something on the order of #ce chairs or 
their equivalent in other kinds of      

furniture4 ,it would appear that his    
shop1 the same one where ,anthony ,hay  
and ,benjamin ,bucktrout had earlier    
plied their craft1 was the largest such 
establishment in ,williamsburg at the   
time4 ,it has now been reconstructed1   
its dimensions precisely fixed by       
surviving foundations1 and furnished as 
an operating craft shop according to    
indications of the ,dickinson inventory1
 archaeological findings on the site1   
and other information4                  
,illustration3 ,this eighteenth-century 
woodworker's bench resembles     its    
twentieth-century counterpart in every  
essential feature of     construction   
and equipment1 though differing in      
various details4                        
,,roubo  ,the original shop was built   
about #agej on the bank of the small    
stream that still flows through the     
,nicholson ,street property4 ,hay bought
 it in #agef and some ten years later   
built an addition on piers over the     
stream4 ,his reason for this seemingly  

awkward arrangement cannot now be       
ascertained4 ,no evidence indicates that
 he ever installed a water wheel1 and in
 any event the stream's flow could have 
operated a lathe only in the very       
wettest weather4  ,it's an ill waterway1
 however1 that flows nobody good6 ,this 
one served a double end4 ,in the first  
place1 it provided a convenient place   
for the cabinetmakers' apprentices to   
dump the trash that accumulated in the  
shop4 ,and in the second place1 the damp
 silt of the stream bed effectively     
preserved that trash against decay1     
transforming it into a twentieth-century
 treasure trove for today's             
archaeologists4  ,mention has already   
been made of the woodworking tools and  
fragments of cabinet hardware excavated 
at the site of the shop4 ,diggers also  
found a few component pieces of a table 
and chairs4 ,indeed the ,anthony ,hay   
shop1 house1 kitchen1 and well have     
proved to be the richest archaeological 
dig in ,williamsburg4 ,besides cabinet  

items1 the colonial artifacts include   
domestic glass and ceramic wares1       
harness hardware1 shoe buckles1 garden  
tools1 table utensils1 and a large      
number of gun flints4 ,the last1 along  
with bits of several weapons1 recall the
 period during the ,revolution when the 
shop was converted into an armory4      
,,workers ,,in ,,the ,,shop   ,the      
formal duties of an apprentice and his  
master toward each other were spelled   
out in an indenture signed by each when 
the apprenticeship began4 ,dickinson was
 probably an apprentice to ,hay and may 
have been a journeyman employee of      
,bucktrout in the same shop before      
himself becoming its master4 ,in turn1  
,dickinson took on an apprentice by the 
name of ,james ,tyrie who would help him
 and be taught the cabinetmaking craft4 
,in the agreement between them the      
master undertook that3    444 his said  
,apprentice in the same art of a        
,cabinet ,maker which he   useth by the 
best means that he can shall teach and  

instruct or cause   to be taught and    
instructed finding unto the said        
,apprentice   sufficient ,meat ,drink   
,washing ,lodging c during the said term
 of five   years4  ,for his part1 ,tyrie
 pledged that he3    444 his said       
,master shall faithfully serve his      
secrets keep his lawful   commands every
 where gladly do1 he shall do no damage 
to his said   ,master nor see to be done
 of others1 but that he to his power    
shall   let or forth with give warning  
to his said ,master of the same he shall
   not waste the ,goods of his said     
,master nor lend them unlawfully to any 
he shall not commit fornication nor     
contract ,matrimony within the said     
term ,he shall not play at ,cards ,dice 
,tables or any other unlawful   ,games  
whereby his said ,master may have any   
loss1 with his own ,goods or   others   
during the said term1 without ,licence  
of his said ,master ,he   shall neither 
buy nor sell ,he shall not ,haunt       
,taverns nor ,play ,houses   nor absent 

himself from his said ,masters ,service 
,day nor ,night   unlawfully ,but in all
 things as a faithful ,apprentice he    
shall ,behave   himself towards his said
 ,master and all his1 during the said   
term4  ,what happened to ,tyrie we do   
not know4 ,perhaps the coming of the    
,war for ,independence holds the key to 
his destiny2 perhaps he1 like many      
another apprentice1 ran away from his   
master4 ,one of ,bucktrout's            
apprentices1 ,david ,davis1 took off one
 day wearing a whole new suit of        
clothing and new shoes4 ,the important  
circumstance1 however1 was that an      
apprenticeship of up to seven years was 
the normal--indeed the only--way for a  
boy to gain entry into the business     
world4 ,it was also the normal source to
 the master of a constantly renewed     
supply of cheap1 unskilled labor4       
,illustration3 ,artifacts from the site 
of ,anthony ,hay's     cabinetmaking    
shop3 7#a7 unfinished table leg1 walnut2
 7#b7 fragment     of an oboe1 boxwood  

with brass stops2 7#c7 crest rail of a  
chair in     the ,chippendale style2 7#d
 to #ab7 cabinet fittings1 brass1       
including     ornamental column base    
from a tall case clock 7#f7 and a chair 
caster     7#g72 and 7#ac to #ah7       
carpenter's tools1 all of iron and      
heavily     encrusted with rust4        
,redrawn from photographs4  ,three other
 sources of help were available to him3 
wage-earning journeymen1 indentured     
servants1 and slaves--all of whom might 
be skilled workers in the craft4        
,williamsburg cabinetmakers advertised  
from time to time in the ,virginia      
,gazette for the services of capable    
journeymen1 a circumstance that argues  
both the need of the proprietors for    
help and the availability of potential  
helpers4 ,as to any specific workers    
they may have acquired in this category1
 the record is silent4  ,other          
advertisements listed joiners and       
cabinetmakers among the cargoes of ships
 bringing indentured passengers whose   

services for a period were to be        
auctioned off to the highest bidder or  
sold for a fixed fee4 ,but no evidence  
has been found that any ,williamsburg   
cabinetmaker augmented his work force   
with indentured servants4  ,formal      
apprenticeship of ,negro slaves was not 
uncommon1 and many examples can be cited
 of ,negroes who became skilled workers 
even without the formality4 ,the largest
 number in and around ,williamsburg seem
 to have been carpenters1 but other     
crafts had skilled and semi-skilled     
practitioners who were slaves4 ,peter   
,scott1 for example1 owned two ,negroes1
 bred to the ,business of a             
,cabinet-maker1 and ,anthony ,hay owned 
a very good slave cabinetmaker even     
after he turned from that trade to      
innkeeping4 ,however1 no instance has   
come to light from colonial ,virginia of
 a ,negro1 even a freedman1 who became a
 journeyman or master of any craft4     
,,greener ,,grass   ,as we have seen1   
,virginians who wanted fine furniture   

probably ordered it from ,england4 ,but 
competition from across the ,atlantic   
was not the local cabinetmaker's only   
burden4 ,a very large amount of         
furniture left the busy shops of ,new   
,england1 ,new ,york1 and ,philadelphia 
in the eighteenth century1 consigned to 
southern ports or the ,west ,indies4 ,no
 precise figure can be stated for the   
size or importance of this coastwise    
trade1 or for its importance in the life
 of ,williamsburg cabinetmakers2 it     
could not have made things easier for   
them4      ,illustration3 ,the interior 
of an eighteenth-century ,french        
marquetry establishment1 with the       
workers using various tools4 ,at     the
 left is a type of vise called a donkey2
 against the wall may     be seen a     
large cabinet bookcase1 a slant-top     
desk1 and a chest of     drawers4 ,these
 would have been made in a cabinet shop 
and brought     here for inlay          
decoration4                             
,,diderot  ,whether outside competition 

was the cause1 or simply the narrowness 
of the ,virginia market in the first    
place1 ,williamsburg cabinetmakers--like
 the practitioners of other             
crafts--found ways to augment their     
incomes4 ,anthony ,hay became proprietor
 of the ,raleigh ,tavern and ,benjamin  
,bucktrout turned storekeeper and state 
functionary4  ,the change in ,hay's case
 was clearly not motivated by poverty2  
he must have been well-to-do or at any  
rate well respected to have acquired    
backing1 perhaps to the extent of #djjj1
 to buy the ,raleigh--and without       
selling his house1 cabinet shop1 and    
timber yard4  ,coffin-making was a      
normal part of the cabinetmaker's       
business1 and many cabinetmakers took   
what was the logical next step of       
serving also as funeral directors4 ,when
 the popular ,lord ,botetourt1 ,governor
 ,dunmore's predecessor1 died in        
,williamsburg1 two of the town's        
cabinetmakers were involved in the      
burial4 ,joshua ,kendall made the three 

nested coffins1 and ,benjamin ,bucktrout
 provided the hearse and four days worth
 of attendance in connection with the   
ceremonies4  ,bucktrout was one of the  
several ,williamsburg cabinetmakers who 
did upholstering2 he also sold          
upholstery materials in his shop on     
,francis ,street4 ,by #aggd that shop   
had become a store--stocked with beer1  
cheese1 spices1 woolens and cottons1    
hats1 boots1 women's and children's     
shoes1 gloves1 guns1 pistols1 saddles1  
whips1 and a number of other things--and
 ,bucktrout had to advertise that he    
still did cabinet work4  ,eventually1   
however1 ,bucktrout seems to have       
abandoned his own business to put all   
his time and effort into serving as     
purveyor to the public hospitals of the 
state4 ,a powder mill he devised and    
erected in or near ,williamsburg early  
in the ,revolution did not function for 
lack of saltpeter1 and ,bucktrout's     
efforts to gain compensation or subsidy 
from the ,assembly were in vain4        

,whether or not he turned ,tory in      
#aggi--;and there is one accusation on  
record to that effect--he was back in   
,williamsburg soon after the defeat of  
,cornwallis1 and remained a resident of 
the town for another #cj years4 ,in     
#ahjd he was appointed town surveyor1   
thereby capping a career that for       
versatility was matched by its virility4
 ,the widower ,bucktrout must have been 
about #fj years old when1 in #agig1 he  
took to wife a young girl by the name of
 ,mary ,bruce4 ,before his death in     
#ahab she bore him four children1 the   
second receiving the name ,horatio4  ,a 
century and a quarter later--in         
#aibh--;another ,horatio ,bucktrout sold
 the family undertaking establishment   
and thus brought to an end the          
,bucktrout saga in ,williamsburg4 ,the  
story of cabinetmaking as an active     
eighteenth-century craft in             
,williamsburg had ended long before1 of 
course4                                 
,,williamsburg ,,cabinetmakers   ,in    

addition to ,benjamin ,bucktrout1       
,edmund ,dickinson1 ,anthony ,hay1 and  
,peter ,scott--all of whom have been    
discussed at some length in the         
preceding pages--the following are      
believed to complete the list of known  
,williamsburg cabinetmakers in the      
eighteenth century4  ,richard ,booker4  
,a cabinetmaker in ,williamsburg in     
#aggc1 and for three       or fours     
years thereafter1 and again or still in 
#agib4 ,the records       are full of   
men by that name1 and their identities  
are difficult       to sort out4  ,john 
,crump4 ,was associated in #agge with   
,richard ,booker1 in what       capacity
 is not known4  ,richard ,harrocks4 ,had
 a shop in #aggf and #aggg1 part of the 
time in       partnership with ,james   
,honey4  ,james ,honey 7died #aghg74    
,was a house joiner rather than         
cabinetmaker1       but was briefly in  
the cabinetmaking business with ,richard
       ,harrocks4  ,william ,kennedy4   
,in #agfi was briefly a partner of      

,bucktrout2 then had       his own      
business in the ,pelham shop on ,francis
 ,street1 but his       activities there
 are unknown4  ,matthew ,moody1 ,jr4    
,had cabinetmaking business around #agfd
 or #agfe and       later was a         
carpenter4  ,john ,ormeston4 ,was in    
,williamsburg from #agfc to #agff2 may  
have been a       cabinetmaker or a     
riding-chair maker or both4  ,thomas    
,orton 7died #aggh74 ,his name appears  
in the records once with       the word 
cabinetmaker appended to it4  ,james    
,spiers4 ,coachmaker1 cabinetmaker1     
upholsterer from #agdd to about         
#agee2 his shop may have been near that 
of ,scott4                              
,,suggested ,,readings   ,the number of 
books in print on how to make furniture 
is almost endless2 the determined       
do-it-yourself antique-maker will want  
to start with ,joseph ,moxon1 ,mechanick
 ,exercises 7,london1 #afhc72 ,thomas   
,chippendale1 ,gentleman and            
,cabinet-,maker's ,director 7,london1   

#aged72 and ,thomas ,sheraton1 ,the     
,cabinet ,dictionary 7,london1 #ahjc74  
,among more recent publications1 space  
permits mention of three--not           
necessarily the best or most complete1  
but at least representative3 ,f4 ,e4    
,hoard and ,a4 ,w4 ,marlow1 ,the        
,cabinetmaker's ,treasury 7,new ,york1  
,macmillan1 #aieb72 ,lester ,margon1    
,construction of ,american ,furniture   
,treasures 7,new ,york1 ,home           
,craftsman1 #aidi72 and ,raymond ,f4    
,yates1 ,antique ,reproductions for the 
,home ,craftsman 7,new ,york1           
,whittlesey ,house1 #aiej74 ,the last   
named includes a discussion of old-time 
hand tools and techniques2 although not 
strictly concerned with cabinetmaking   
tools1 ,henry ,d4 ,mercer1 ,ancient     
,carpenters' ,tools 7,doylestown1 ,pa41 
,doylestown ,hist4 ,soc41 #aibi7 is very
 informative4  ,on the historical       
aspects of furniture and fashion there  
are1 again1 a multitude of books2 a good
 start can be made with ,frank ,davis1  

,a ,picture ,history of ,furniture 7,new
 ,york1 ,macmillan1 #aieh7 and ,hermann 
,schmitz1 editor1 ,the ,encyclopedia of 
,furniture 7,new ,york1 ,praeger1 #aieg1
 new edition74 ,on ,english seventeenth-
 and eighteenth-century styles ,ralph   
,edwards and ,l4 ,g4 ,g4 ,ramsey1       
editors1 ,connoisseur ,period ,guides   
7,london1 ,the ,connoisseur1 #aief et   
seq47 and ,robert ,w4 ,symonds1         
,furniture ,making in ,seventeenth and  
,eighteenth ,century ,england 7,london1 
,the ,connoisseur1 #aiee7 are           
indispensable4 ,joseph ,downs1 ,american
 ,furniture1 ,queen ,anne and           
,chippendale ,periods 7,new ,york1      
,macmillan1 #aieb7 and ,albert ,sack1   
,fine ,points of ,furniture 7,new ,york1
 ,crown1 #aiej7 are essential for the   
colonial story in furniture design4     
,local developments--,virginia and      
elsewhere--will be found in the article 
by ,helen ,comstock1 ,furniture of      
,virginia1 ,north ,carolina1 ,georgia1  
and ,kentucky1 in ,antiques ,magazine1  

,,lxi 7,january1 #aieb74 ,that          
magazine's recent compilation entitled  
,the ,antiques ,treasury 7,new ,york1   
,dutton1 #aiei7 has useful information  
and many illustrations of furniture and 
other furnishings in ,williamsburg and  
in a number of other ,american museums  
and restorations4  ,as to the craftsmen 
themselves and their life in colonial   
times1 the first place to look is ,ethel
 ,hall ,bjerkoe1 ,the ,cabinetmakers of 
,america 7,garden ,city1 ,n4 ,y41       
,doubleday1 #aieg72 and for light on the
 general1 social1 and economic status of
 craft workers ,carl ,bridenbaugh1 ,the 
,colonial ,craftsman 7,new ,york1 ,n4   
,y4 ,univ4 ,press1 #aiej7 will be found 
helpful4 ,seat of ,empire1 by the same  
author2 ,hunter ,d4 ,farish1 editor1    
,the ,journal 444 of ,philip ,vickers   
,fithian2 and ,edmund ,s4 ,morgan1      
,virginians at ,home 7all published by  
,colonial ,williamsburg1 in #aiej1      
#aieh1 and #aieb respectively7 will     
provide lively background for the local 

phases of the picture4   ,the           
,cabinetmaker in ,eighteenth-,century   
,williamsburg is based largely on an    
unpublished monograph by ,mills ,brown1 
formerly of the ,colonial ,williamsburg 
research staff4 ,it has been prepared   
with the assistance of ,thomas ,k4      
,ford1 editor1 ,colonial ,williamsburg  
publications department4 ,benjamin      
,bucktrout's bill to ,robert ,carter of 
,nomini ,hall1 quoted on page #ab1 is   
printed by permission of the ,virginia  
,historical ,society4                   
,transcriber's ,notes   --,retained     
publication information from the printed
 edition3 this e,book   is public-domain
 in the country of publication4         
--,silently corrected a few palpable    
typos4  --,in the text versions only1   
text in italics is delimited by         
underscores4