Furniture of the Olden Time

In Short

Frances Clary Morse offers a detailed, illustrated history of early American furniture and interior woodwork, surveying pieces made or imported from the seventeenth century through the early nineteenth century. Organised room-by-room and by functional category, the book traces how changing domestic needs and aesthetic influences reshaped daily life. It covers everything from rugged oak chests and heavy wainscot chairs to delicate Hepplewhite sideboards, classical mantels, and tall clocks. Morse blends precise structural descriptions with historical anecdotes, tracking how craftsmanship, trade networks, and architectural styles evolved to reflect the growing refinement and wealth of early American households.

The Story

The book opens with the heavy, foundational furniture of the early colonial period. Seventeenth-century homes rely on practical, sturdy forms like oak chests, turned high chairs, and panelled wainscot chairs. Storage is simple, dominated by panelled chests with single or double drawers. As joinery techniques improve and foreign trade expands near the turn of the eighteenth century, these rudimentary chests evolve into elevated, multi-tiered forms. Six-legged high chests of drawers give way to walnut high-boys, low-boys, and intricate double chests. Dressing tables adopt graceful cabriole legs and block-front designs, reflecting a shift toward lighter, more decorative domestic spaces.

Moving beyond storage, the survey turns to sleeping quarters and dining halls. Early cradles—such as the wicker cradle brought on the Mayflower or heavy oak cradles with turned spindles—give way to space-saving "slaw-banks" that fold into closets, mahogany bedstead couches, and elegant field beds with canopy tops draped in hand-netted fringe. Dining and reception rooms undergo a similar transformation. Early board tables and gate-legged designs are replaced by carved sideboards, complex urn-shaped knife boxes, and specialized game tables. Desks develop from simple slanting ledger boxes into elaborate block-front writing cabinets equipped with curved interior drawers, secret compartments, and sunburst carvings.

The narrative then examines seating and specialized household objects. Chairs trace a clear path from early leather-backed frames to the golden age of cabinet-making. Morse charts the influence of English masters like Thomas Chippendale, who fused French, Gothic, and Chinese tastes into carved mahogany frames, followed by the classical elegance of the Adam brothers and the lighter, shield-backed designs of Hepplewhite. Settees, sofas, and musical instruments follow this trajectory toward refined leisure, progressing from primitive wooden settles to reeded Sheraton sofas, spinets, and painted mahogany pianofortes.

The narrative culminates in the fixed architectural and hearth elements of the home. Morse reviews the mechanisms and brass-faced spandrels of tall clocks, rococo looking-glasses, wire fenders, and cast-iron firebacks. The progression concludes with interior architecture, examining hand-carved pine doorways, classical mantels, and grand staircases. By tracing these physical objects to their final home contexts, the book demonstrates how functional carpentry transformed into a refined, harmonious domestic tradition.

How It Unfolds

The foundation of domestic storage Simple oak and olive-wood chests with heavy panels gradually give way to elevated six-legged chests and bandy-legged walnut high-boys. Dressing tables and low-boys emerge alongside these taller storage units to outfit refined bedchambers.

Bedsteads and dining appointments Early wicker cradles and fold-away cupboard beds yield to mahogany field beds draped with netted fringe. Dining halls adopt elaborately inlaid sideboards and carved, urn-shaped knife boxes designed to organize cutlery and serve guests.

Desks and writing furniture Writing surfaces transition from plain slanting ledgers to broad mahogany desks containing intricate interior curves, sunburst carvings, and hidden compartments. These sturdy pieces serve both commercial offices and private studies.

Seating and the reign of master designers Seating evolves from seventeenth-century wainscot and turned chairs into the elaborate designs of the eighteenth century. Chippendale's delicate carved mahogany in the "Chinese taste" gives way to Hepplewhite's light, shield-backed frames and Sheraton's reeded sofas.

Leisure, light, and interior architecture The study concludes with specialized amenities, from painted pianofortes and tall brass-faced clocks to rococo pier glasses. The tour finishes at the architectural framework of the room, detailing hand-carved pine doorways, classical mantels, and grand staircases.

The People

Thomas Chippendale A master craftsman in London's St. Martin’s Lane, Chippendale wants to create harmonious furniture by blending French, Gothic, Dutch, and Chinese styles. Relying on intricate carving rather than inlay or paint, he sets the dominant furniture style for the mid-eighteenth century.

George Hepplewhite A cabinet-maker who aims to produce light, graceful furniture that breaks away from heavier, carved traditions. While his shield- and heart-backed chairs achieve unprecedented lightness, his focus on delicate form sometimes leads him to sacrifice structural durability.

Robert and James Adam Architects trained in the classics who seek to integrate furniture design directly into Greek and Roman interior spaces. They introduce classical motifs, classical urn shapes, and satinwood painted by noted artists to create unified room designs.

Thomas Shearer A designer who focuses on practical, highly functional cabinetry without publishing chair designs. He shapes the modern sideboard and produces detailed drawings for tables, dressing chests, and intricate knife-boxes.

Thomas Sheraton A late-eighteenth-century designer who aims to redefine elegance with clean, classic lines. Known for his reeded legs and slender furniture profiles, his influence marks the final major shift in early traditional cabinet-making.

In Its Own Voice

“To sit under the face of an old clock that has been ticking one hundred and fifty years—there is something mortal, not to say immortal, about it; a clock that begun to tick when Massachusetts was a province.”

This quotation from Henry David Thoreau’s Autumn introduces the text, establishing a sense of history and human connection around long-surviving domestic objects.

“His book, ‘The Gentleman’s and Cabinet-Maker’s Director,’ was published in 1754, at a cost of £3.13.6 per copy.”

This detail highlights the formal introduction of Thomas Chippendale’s work to the public and marks the rise of published trade manuals.

“This doorway is in the house built in 1720 by Michael Dalton, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and now occupied by the Dalton Club.”

Morse contextualizes a classical pine doorway within the local history and architectural lineage of a coastal New England town.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the book is about how material culture reflects the evolution of domestic life, wealth, and community standards. It argues that furniture is never merely utilitarian; rather, every curve of a leg, choice of timber, or carved detail records the economic trade routes, social aspirations, and aesthetic values of its era. By charting the transition from rough, local oak joinery to imported mahogany and fine satinwood inlays, the text shows how early settlements developed into prosperous, cultured communities. It also explores how design traditions travel across oceans—adapting European, Chinese, and classical motifs into distinct regional forms—and how personal memory becomes embedded within the physical objects that endure across generations.

Why Read It Today

This book appeals to woodworkers, interior designers, antiques collectors, and social historians who appreciate precise material analysis over broad generalities. Reading it feels like taking a guided walk through historic New England homes, museum collections, and private attics alongside an observant, knowledgeable companion. Morse avoids romanticized commentary, letting dimensions, wood choices, and structural hardware explain how early craftsmen solved practical problems. The narrative carries a quiet fascination with the survival of everyday objects, capturing the exact measurements of high-boys, the mechanics of sliding knife-box lids, and the provenance of early American heirlooms.

The reader must navigate frequent lists of owners, detailed measurements, and traditional craft terms like "gadrooned edges," "cabriole legs," and "spandrels." However, these technical details ground the history in tangible reality. For anyone curious about the physical craft behind historic interiors, the book remains a grounded, clear-eyed reference on early American decorative arts.