SETTLES, SETTEES, AND SOFAS
[Illustration]
THE first form of the long seat, afterward developed into the sofa, was
the settle, which is found in the earliest inventories in this country,
and still earlier in England. The settle oftenest seen in America is of
simple construction, usually of pine, and painted; probably the work
of a country cabinet-maker, or even a carpenter. It was made to stand
by the great fireplace, to keep the draughts out and the heat in, with
its tall back, and the front of the seat coming down to the floor; and
sadly was it needed in those days when the ink froze in the standish,
as the minister sat by the fire to write his sermon. Illustration 201
shows a settle in the Deerfield Museum, in the kitchen. In front of the
settle stands a flax-wheel, which kept the housewife busy on winter
evenings, spinning by the firelight. Beside the settle is a rudely
made light-stand, with a tin lamp, and a brass candlestick with the
extinguisher on its top, and snuffers and tray beside it. Upon one side
of the settle is fastened a candlestick with an extension frame. Behind
the flax-wheel is a banister-back chair, the plain type of the chairs
in Illustration 139, and at the right of the picture is a slat-back,
flag-bottomed chair such as may be seen in Illustration 143.
[Illustration: Illus. 201.—Pine Settle, Eighteenth Century.]
Illustration 202 shows a settle of oak, which has upon the back the
carved date 1708. The front of the seat has four panels, while the
back has five lower panels, with a row of small panels above. The
top rail is carved in five groups, the middle design of each group
being a crown, and between each small panel is a turned ornament. The
arms are like the arms of the wainscot chairs in Illustration 124
and Illustration 125. The top of the seat does not lift up, as was
often the case, disclosing a box below, but is fastened to the frame,
and probably there were provided for this settle the articles often
mentioned in inventories, “chusshings,” “quysyns,” or cushions, which
the hard seat made so necessary. This settle belongs to Dwight Blaney,
Esq., of Boston.
[Illustration: Illus. 202.—Oak Settle, 1708.]
The word “settee” is the diminutive of “settle,” and the long seat
which corresponded to the chairs with the frame of turned wood was
called a settee or small settle, being of so much lighter build than
the settle.
[Illustration: Illus. 203.—Settee covered with Turkey work, 1670-1680.]
Illustration 203 shows a settee owned by the Essex Institute of Salem,
and said to have been brought to this country by a Huguenot family
about 1686. It is upholstered, like the chairs of the same style, in
Turkey work, the colors in which are still bright. Turkey work was very
fashionable at that time, rugs being imported from Turkey in shapes to
fit the seat and back of chairs or settees.
Another form of the long seat was one which was intended to serve as
a couch, or “day-bed.” It was really what its French name implies,
_chaise longue_, or long chair, the back being an enlarged chair-back,
and the body of the couch equalling three chair-seats. Illustration
204 shows a couch owned by the Concord Antiquarian Society, which
formerly belonged to the descendants of the Rev. Peter Bulkeley.
It had originally a cane seat, and evidently formed part of a set
of furniture, for a chair of the same style is with it, which also
belonged to the Bulkeley family. Both couch and chair are Flemish in
design, with the scroll foot turning backward. The braces between the
legs are carved in the same design as the top of the back.
[Illustration: Illus. 204.—Flemish Couch, 1680-1690.]
Illustration 205 shows a walnut couch made in the Dutch style about
1720-1730, with bandy legs and Dutch feet. The splat in the back is
Dutch, but instead of the side-posts curving into the top rail like the
Dutch chairs, in which the top and the side-posts apparently form one
piece, these posts run up, with a finish at the top like the Flemish
chairs, and like the posts in the back of the couch in Illustration 204.
[Illustration: Illus. 205.—Dutch Couch, 1720-1730.]
[Illustration: Illus. 206.—Chippendale Couch, 1760-1770.]
It is interesting to compare this couch, which is owned by the Misses
Hosmer of Concord, Massachusetts, with the following one, Illustration
206, which belongs to Mr. Walter Hosmer of Wethersfield, Connecticut,
and was made about 1770. This couch, of mahogany, has a back like one
of the familiar Chippendale chairs, somewhat higher than the back of
the couch in Illustration 205, which is longer than this Chippendale
couch.
[Illustration: Illus. 207.—Chippendale Settee, 1760.]
The bandy legs with claw-and-ball feet are unusually well proportioned,
and the effect of the piece of furniture is extremely elegant. The
canvas seat is drawn tight by ropes laced over wooden knobs.
A double chair owned by Dwight M. Prouty, Esq., of Boston, is shown
in Illustration 207. The splats are cut in an early design, with the
heart-shaped opening in the lower part. The settee is not so wide as
some, and the back is not equal to two chair backs, lacking the side
rails which are usually carried down in the middle between the splats.
[Illustration: Illus. 208.—Sofa, 1740.]
The front legs have the acanthus carving upon the knees, and end in a
Dutch foot. This settee is what was called a “Darby and Joan” seat,
just wide enough for two.
A sofa is shown in Illustration 208 from “Stenton,” the fine old house
in Philadelphia, now occupied by the Colonial Dames. The back and arms
are upholstered, and the shape of the arms, and the curved outline of
the back are like early Chippendale pieces. A distinction was made
between the “sopha” and the settee, the sofa being a long seat with the
back and arms entirely upholstered, like the sofa in Illustration 208.
[Illustration: Illus. 209.—Chippendale Settee, 1765-1770.]
Illustration 209 shows a Chippendale settee with beautifully carved
cabriole legs, owned by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq. The three front
legs are carved with the scroll foot turned to the front. This foot
was called the French foot by the cabinet-makers of that period, about
1765-1770.
[Illustration: Illus. 210.—Double Chair, 1760.]
Illustration 210 shows a double chair, also owned by Mr. Flagler.
It has characteristics of various nationalities and styles, mainly
Chippendale. The back consists of two chair backs, wider than arm-chair
backs, which is almost always true of the double chair. The corners of
the seat, and the ends of the top rails are rounding after the Dutch
style, but the splats are Chippendale. The three front legs end in
a small claw-and-ball, and the knees are carved. The most noticeable
feature of this graceful piece is the rococo design at the top of the
back and upon the front of the seat.
Illustration 211 shows a Chippendale double chair and one of four
arm-chairs, formerly owned by Governor John Wentworth, whose household
goods were confiscated and sold at auction by the Federal government,
in 1776. Since that time these pieces have been in the Alexander Ladd
house at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where they now stand. They are
a perfect exemplification of Chippendale’s furniture in the Chinese
style, and are probably the finest examples of that style in this
country. They are of mahogany, with cane seats. The design of the backs
is more elaborate than any of the Chinese designs for furniture of
either Chippendale, Manwaring, Ince, or Mayhew; an unusual thing, for a
majority of the designs in the old cabinet-makers’ books are far more
elaborate than the furniture which has come down to us. Chippendale
says that these “Chinese chairs are very suitable for a lady’s boudoir,
and will likewise suit a Chinese temple.” One wonders if Governor
Wentworth had a Chinese temple for these beautiful pieces of furniture.
He had, we know, splendid gardens, which were famous in those days, and
possibly a Chinese temple may have been one of the adornments, with
these chairs for its furniture.
[Illustration: Illus. 211.—Chippendale Double Chair and Chair, in
“Chinese Taste,” 1760-1765.]
Illustration 212 shows a double chair, which is well known from
representations of it in various books. It is one of the finest
examples existing of the Chippendale period, and was undoubtedly, like
the double chair in Illustration 211, made in England. The carving
upon the three front legs is unusually good. The feet are carved with
lions’ claws, and the knees with grotesque faces, while the arms end in
dragons’ heads.
[Illustration: Illus. 212.—Chippendale Double Chair, 1750-1760.]
The corners of the back are finished with a scroll, turning to the
back. The wood of this double chair is walnut, and it is covered in
gray horsehair. This chair formerly belonged to John Hancock, and was
presented to the American Antiquarian Society in 1838, with other
pieces bought from the Hancock house, by John Chandler, of Petersham,
Massachusetts.
The little settee in Illustration 213 is owned by Albert S. Rines,
Esq., of Portland, Maine. It was evidently made from the same design as
a long settee in the Pendleton collection in Providence, which has the
same Chippendale carvings on the back at the centre and ends, and the
same effect of the leg being continued up into the frame of the seat.
This settee has the middle leg unevenly placed.
[Illustration: Illus. 213.—Chippendale Settee, 1770.]
The settee in Illustration 214 is entirely unlike any shown. It is
French, of the time of Louis the Sixteenth, and with the six chairs
like it, was part of the cargo upon the ship _Sally_, which sailed from
France in 1792, and landed at Wiscasset, Maine, with a load of fine
furniture and rich belongings intended to furnish a home of refuge
for Marie Antoinette, who did not live to sail upon the _Sally_. The
sideboard in Illustration 75 has the same history and it can be traced
directly to the _Sally_. The settee and chairs came from Bath, Maine,
where there are also other chairs from the _Sally_, which are, however,
like the sideboard, English in style.
[Illustration: Illus. 214.—French Settee, 1790.]
The settee is of solid rosewood, with the short legs of the Louis XVI
period, and a very deep seat. The wood of the back is elaborately
carved in a design distinctly French, of roses, with a bow of ribbon
in the centre. The settee and chairs are now owned by Mrs. William J.
Hogg, of Worcester.
A double chair owned by Francis H. Bigelow, Esq., is shown in
Illustration 215. The back is made of two Hepplewhite chair-backs,
which combine the outline of the shield back and the middle of the
interlaced heart back shown in the chair in Illustration 189.
[Illustration: Illus. 215.—Hepplewhite Settee, 1790.]
The three front legs are inlaid with fine lines and the bell flower,
and the backs are very finely inlaid, with lines in the urn-shaped
piece in the centre, and a fan above, while a fine line of holly runs
around the edge of each piece. The stretchers between the legs are a
very unusual feature in such settees.
Illustration 216 shows a Sheraton settee, now in Girard College,
Philadelphia. It was a part of the furniture belonging to Stephen
Girard, the founder of that college. It has eight legs, the four in
front being the typical reeded Sheraton legs. The back has five posts
dividing it into four chair-backs. The seat is upholstered.
[Illustration: Illus. 216.—Sheraton Settee, 1790-1795.]
The Sheraton sofa in Illustration 217 was probably made in England
about 1790-1800. It is owned by Francis H. Bigelow, Esq., of Cambridge.
The frame is of mahogany, and the rail at the top of the back is
exquisitely carved with festoons and flowers. The front of the seat
is slightly rounding at the ends, and the arm, which is carved upon
the upper side, extends beyond the upholstered frame, and rests upon
a pillar which continues up from the corner leg. This style of arm is
quite characteristic of Sheraton. The legs of the sofa are plainly
turned, not reeded, as is usual upon Sheraton sofas.
[Illustration: Illus. 217.—Sheraton Sofa, 1790-1800.]
The sofa in Illustration 218 is a typical Sheraton piece, of a style
which must have been very fashionable about 1800, for such sofas are
often found in this country.
[Illustration: Illus. 218.—Sheraton Sofa, about 1800.]
The frame is of mahogany, with pieces of satinwood inlaid at the top
of the end legs. The arms are like the arms of the sofa in Illustration
217, and they, the pillars supporting them, and the four front legs are
all reeded. This sofa is owned by W. S. G. Kennedy, Esq., of Worcester.
[Illustration: Illus. 219.—Sheraton Settee, about 1805.]
Illustration 219 shows a Sheraton settee which came from the Flint
mansion in Leicester, Massachusetts, and is now owned by the writer.
It has a rush seat, and the frame was originally painted black, with
gilt flowers. It is very long, settees of this style usually equalling
three chairs, while this equals four. It measures seventy-six inches in
length, and from front to back the seat measures seventeen inches. It
makes an admirable hall settee, and seems to be substantial, although
extremely light in effect.
Another settee is shown in Illustration 220, with a cane seat, and
painted in the “japanning” of the period in black with gold figures. It
is owned by Mrs. Clarence R. Hyde, of Brooklyn, N. Y.
[Illustration: Illus. 220.—Sheraton Settee, about 1805.]
An Empire settee of graceful shape, owned by Barton Myers, Esq., of
Norfolk, Virginia, is shown in Illustration 221. The lines of the many
curves are all unusually good.
[Illustration: Illus. 221.—Empire Settee, about 1805.]
The wood of the settee is mahogany, and the seat is rush. The ornaments
upon the front and the rosettes at the tip of each curve are brass.
In 1816 there was launched in Salem the yacht called _Cleopatra’s
Barge_, built and owned by Capt. George Crowninshield, who had been a
partner with his brothers in the East India trade and had lived from a
boy upon his father’s ships. Finally retiring from business, he built
this splendid yacht with the intention of spending years in travel, but
he died after the first long voyage to the Mediterranean. The yacht was
the wonder of the day and was visited by thousands, not alone in Salem
but in every foreign port.
[Illustration: Illus. 222.—Empire Settee, 1816.]
She was furnished with great magnificence, in the Empire style, the
woods used in the saloon being mahogany and bird’s-eye maple, and the
two settees in the saloon were each eleven feet in length. One is shown
in Illustration 222, now owned by Frederic B. Crowninshield, Esq., of
Marblehead. The backs are lyre-shaped, and when new the seats were
covered with crimson velvet and edged with wide gold lace. The hook
upon the back leg was probably to hold the settee to the wall in bad
weather.
Illustration 223 shows the influence of the fashion for heavier and
more elaborate frames, which came in with the nineteenth century.
The arms are made after the Sheraton type shown in Illustration 217
and Illustration 218, but where a simple pillar was employed before,
this settee has a carved pineapple forming the support to the arm,
which ends in a scroll. Instead of four front legs either plain or
fluted, there are two of larger size carved with the same leaves which
sheathe the pineapple. The covering is horsehair, which was probably
the original cover. This settee now belongs to the Concord Antiquarian
Society, and was owned by Dr. Ezra Ripley, who was minister of the old
Congregational Church of Concord from 1777 to 1840, and who lived in
the Old Manse, afterward occupied by Hawthorne. The settee remained in
the manse until comparatively recent years.
[Illustration: Illus. 223.—Sheraton Settee, 1800-1805.]
The sofa in Illustration 224 belongs to the Misses Hosmer of Concord,
and stands in their old house, filled with the furniture of generations
past, and interesting with memories of the Concord philosophers. The
lines of this sofa are extremely elegant and graceful, and its effect
quite classic. The legs are what is known as the Adam leg, which was
designed by the Adam brothers, and which Sheraton used frequently. The
style of the sofa is that of the Adam brothers, and it was probably
made from their designs about 1800-1810. The writer has seen a window
seat which belonged to Charles Carroll of Carrollton, after exactly
this design, without the back.
[Illustration: Illus. 225.—Sofa in Adam Style, 1800-1810.]
The back of the sofa in Illustration 225 follows the same graceful
curves as the one in Illustration 224. This sofa was found by the
writer in the shed of a farmhouse, on top of a woodpile, which made it
evident what its fate would be eventually, a fate which has robbed us
of many a fine piece of old furniture. After climbing upon a chair,
then a table, the sight of these carved feet protruding from the
woodpile was almost enough to make the antique hunter lose her insecure
footing; but with the duplicity learned in years of collecting, all
emotion was concealed until the sofa had been secured.
[Illustration: Illus. 224.—Sofa, 1815-1820.]
The writer knows of four sofas, all found near Worcester, measuring the
same, seven feet in length, and with the same carving of oak leaves
upon the legs and ends, but this is the only one of the four which has
the carved oak leaves across the front of the seat, and the rows of
incised carving upon the back rail. The sofa was covered with black
haircloth, woven in an elaborate design, and around the edge of the
covering ran the brass beading which may be seen in the illustration.
This beading is three-eighths of an inch wide, and is of pressed brass,
filled with lead, so that it is pliable and may be bent to go around a
curve. Such beading or trimming was used in the place of brass-headed
tacks or nails, and is found upon chairs and sofas of about this date,
1815-1820.
[Illustration: Illus. 226.—Sofa, about 1820.]
Illustration 226 shows one of a pair of sofas without backs. The frame
is of mahogany with legs and arms carved rather coarsely. The covering
is of stiff old brocade, probably the original cover when these sofas
were made, about 1820, for the Warner house in Portsmouth, where they
still stand. The panelling of the old room, built in 1716, shows behind
the sofa, and on the floor is the Brussels carpet upon which is a stain
from wine spilt by Lafayette, when he visited the house in 1824.
[Illustration: Illus. 227.—Cornucopia Sofa, about 1820.]
The sofa in Illustration 227, known as a cornucopia sofa, from the
design of the carving, shows the most ornate type of this style. The
frame is of mahogany, and the ends of the arms are carved in large
horns of plenty, the same design being repeated in the carving of the
top rail of the back and in the legs, which end in a lion’s claw. The
round hard pillows, called “squabs,” at each end, were always provided
for sofas of this shape, to fit into the hollow made by the curves
of the cornucopia. This sofa is owned by Dr. Charles Schoeffer of
Philadelphia.
Illustration 228 shows a sofa and miniature sofa made about 1820 for
William T. Lane, Esq., of Boston, and now owned by his daughter, Mrs.
Thomas H. Gage of Worcester. Mr. Lane had two little daughters, and
for them he had two little sofas made, that they might sit one each
side of the large sofa.
[Illustration: Illus. 228.—Sofa and Miniature Sofa, about 1820.]
This fashion of making miniature pieces of furniture like the larger
ones was much in vogue during the first quarter of the nineteenth
century.
[Illustration: Illus. 229.—Sofa, about 1820.]
A sofa of similar lines is shown in Illustration 229. The back and legs
are different, and reeding takes the place of the twist in Illustration
228.
The sofa and chair in Illustration 230 are part of a set of furniture
bought by the father and mother of the late Major Ben: Perley
Poore, for their house at Indian Hill, about 1840. These pieces are
interesting not only for the design of the mahogany frames, carved
with swans’ necks and heads, but for the covering, which is of colored
haircloth, woven in a large figure in red and blue upon a gray ground.
The seat of the sofa is worn and has a rug spread upon it, but the back
and pillows and the chair-seat are perfect.
[Illustration: Illus. 230.—Sofa and Chair, about 1840.]
From 1844 to 1848 a cabinet-maker named John H. Belter had a shop in
New York, where he manufactured furniture, chiefly from rosewood.
The backs of the chairs and sofas were deeply curved, and in order
to obtain the strength necessary, thin pieces of rosewood were
pressed into the desired curve, and the several thicknesses glued
together, and pressed again. The strong back made in this way was then
elaborately carved, in an open-work pattern of vines and leaves.
[Illustration: Illus. 231.—Rosewood Sofa, 1844-1848.]
The sofas of these sets were usually in the shape shown in Illustration
231, which belongs to Mrs. M. Newman of New York. Many of the wealthy
families of New York had this Belter furniture, which was always
covered with a rich silk brocade. It is eagerly sought for now and
brings large prices.