A spice box with line and dot inlay sold recently at a local auction.
Various regions in Southeastern Pennsylvania have traditions of inlaying furniture with a combination of lightwood stringing and round elements. (Often called “berries” today but the term “dots” may have been in use in the eighteenth century. More on this in the next post.) Objects made of black walnut having line and dot inlay made in the first half of the 18th century have traditionally been attributed to Chester County, Pennsylvania. Groups of objects have even been attributed to specific Chester County townships and individual makers. Rarely have any of these inlaid objects been attributed to Philadelphia. However, a small group of objects from several different makers showing a fundamentally different approach to line and dot design from the objects documented to Chester County are constructed with secondary woods of hard pine, red gum, and Atlantic white cedar. These are secondary wood species used in furniture made in there Delaware River Valley/Philadelphia region. Objects documented and attributed to Chester County are typically constructed with yellow poplar and oak secondary wood species and the drawer linings are most often thicker than Philadelphia work. I believe we need to consider the possibility that some of these line and dot inlaid objects were produced by Philadelphia or West Jersey cabinetmakers.
There are several distinctive characteristics of this group of line and dot inlaid furniture that may have originated in the Delaware River Valley. First, dots are inlaid singularly or in clusters of four. Dots inlaid on objects documented and attributed to Chester County are typically inlaid in clusters of three and it is rare to see single inlaid dots. Second, the stringing is laid out with numerous compass point settings used to generate the compound curves of increasing or decreasing spirals which evoke volutes. Just two or three compass settings are used to create an inlay element on most Chester County objects.
Researching these objects is an on-going project. As they don’t exist in great numbers I have been able to examine nearly all the objects that might be tentatively attributed to the Delaware River Valley/Philadelphia region (clusters of four dots in combination with single dots, designs made with numerous compass settings, increasing and decreasing radii spiral stringing, and secondary woods seen in documented Philadelphia furniture – hard pine, Atlantic white cedar, red cedar, gum.) Many more examples of work from Chester County cabinetmakers survive, many are dated, and numerous examples have been attributed to makers. More need to be examined to determine secondary wood species and construction details. Of the Delaware River Valley/Philadelphia group, only one object is dated and none are documented to a maker. The following images highlight key aspects of this fascinating group of objects.