"Convenient and Fashionable”:
Furniture from Inland Massachusetts, 1790-1830
Accommodating Fashion and Budget
Before the advent of ready-made or non-custom furniture, cabinetmakers had a first-hand relationship with their customers through "bespoke" work. Details regarding the construction, design and cost were discussed with clients. Makers learned to adapt their furniture to their clients' changing tastes in style--and to their pocketbooks. William Llyod advertised "convenient and fashionable furniture both mahogany and cherry" at "a low price" and he reminded customers that he would take country produce in payment. Makers who remained in business for many years would often make numerous changes according to fashion. The restrained Pembroke table compared with the ornate sideboard show the extremes of style that makers marketed and sold in inland Massachusetts. Both makers adapted their work to the preferences of their clients in the Connecticut River Valley. | Pembroke Table c. 1811-1813. William Lloyd (1779-1845), Springfield, Massachusetts. Cherry. Paper label on underside of drawer. OSV collection 5.5.408. The simple elegance of this Pembroke table shows that Lloyd could adapt his furniture according to customer preference in taste and budget. Lloyd made more elaborate tables that would have been more costly than this one. The Pembroke form typically has two leaves, four fixed legs and swing rails. It became popular in New England at the end of the 18th century. |
 | Portrait of Dr. and Mrs. John Brewster c. 1790-1800. John Brewster, Jr. (1766-1854), probably Hampton, Connecticut. Oil on canvas. OSV collection 20.1.62. Pembroke tables (sometimes called breakfast tables) were used for breakfasting or light meals or for reading and writing as seen here by Dr. John Brewster and his second wife Ruth Avery of Hampton, Connecticut. |
 | Sideboard 1833. Erastus Grant (1774-1865), Westfield, Massachusetts. Mahogany, mahogany veneer; original pressed glass knobs with integral glass screws likely made by the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Signed on the bottom of a large drawer: "E. Grant Westfield/ 15 Novr 1833." OSV collection 5.7.13. The long-lived Erastus Grant exemplifies a maker who successfully changed the style of his furniture for clients according to fashion-- from the Chippendale style to the more graceful neoclassical taste to the heavier Empire style seen here. Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, Grant's family connections and earliest known workmanship suggest that he learned his craft from Eliphalet Chapin of Hartford, Connecticut. After concluding his apprenticeship around 1795, Grant returned to Westfield where he quickly abandonned the traditional style learned as an apprentice and produced furniture according to fashion until about 1840. |
 | Reproduction Glass Decanter and Wine Glasses All drawers on the sideboards have their original pressed glass knobs, a stylish alternative to more costly brass hardware. Glass knobs complimented glassware such as decanters and wine glasses often displayed on sideboards. |
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