Few connoisseurs of antiques associate Chippendale furniture with small rural communities. Yet Chippendale-type furniture was made in such places, along with a horde of other items we now treasure as antiques, by a number of craftsmen--some known, others anonymous.
Jacob Frey was one of these craftsmen who produced Chippendale-style furniture in Milton, Pennsylvania, a farming center on the west branch of the Susquehanna River, and his work is now valued at prices for a single item that probably exceed what he earned in his lifetime.
Tracing the history of artists like Frey and seeking out examples of their work offers another rewarding aspect to the antiques hobby. It involves an investment in time but little expense unless one is fortunate enough to locate an available piece and can afford to purchase it.
Style Was Widely Copied
Thomas Chippendale, as well as his contemporaries Hepplewhite and Sheraton, were widely copied and their styles dominated American furniture design long after going out of fashion in England.
This furniture we now covet was first created in response to the tastes of a rising new merchant class with more money than culture.
Chippendale, who published his famous "Cabinet Maker's Director" in 1754, was widely imitated in the colonies, particularly in New England, New York and Pennsylvania, through about 1790. Popularity of the style continued even later in many rural areas.
Where To See Examples
The Maryland Museum of Art in Baltimore has several pieces attributed to Jacob Frey, including a splendid high chest in the Chippendale style. The late Carl Dreppard, an acknowledged expert on antiques, dismissed Frey's work as "crude," an assessment that leads one to believe he must have missed these examples which have a beauty and elegance that is remarkable considering the tools available and the conditions under which the artisan worked.
Contemporary references have Frey living and working in Milton between 1790-1810. There is a mystery here. Frey is not listed as a pioneer or among early taxables for Milton (which was laid out in 1792) nor the surrounding Turbut and Chillisquaque townships in available historical sources. There are several Jacob Freys (variant spellings) in the first U.S. census of 1790 for Pennsylvania but none in the vicinity of what is now Milton in Northumberland County. That doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't there. The 1790 census is notorious for mis-spellings and omissions. The 1818 tax roll for Milton does list a James McCord, a native of Dauphin County and a bachelor, as a cabinetmaker, as well as several other workers in wood, which means the industry did exist at an early period.
Use Of Term Is Misleading
To say industry is, in a sense, misleading. In these dependent times we tend to forget how self-reliant our ancestors were. In the pioneer period, when they needed something, they made it themselves or did without. As towns and affluence grew, so did manufacturing.
Importing more luxurious goods from Philadelphia and other cities was expensive and complicated. Demand attracted craftsmen with special skills to growing areas. Since these settlements were small and customers limited few of these early craftsmen were able to live solely by their preferred profession. Most were forced by circumstance to become part-timers who supplemented their earnings by farming or other labor. Thus we often find references to a single individual listed with various occupations of carpenter, cabinetmaker, blacksmith, surveyor, etc. The real period of specialization didn't occur until well into the 19th century.
Certainly Frey and McCord were not the only skilled craftsmen working in Northumberland County in the 18th century and later. However, since few signed their work, provenance is difficult to establish. The problem is exacerbated through the movement of objects by the antiques trade and the travel of collectors across the continent and even abroad.
Dealing in antiques for profit is a legitimate and generally respectable business. But those of us who value antiques for their historic and artistic associations shouldn't be blamed if we sometimes lament that it was not possible to retain more of those items like Frey's highboy where they originated to be admired by future generations.
References:
Primer of American Antiques, Carl W. Dreppard, N.Y., 1944
The Antique Collector's Handbook, George Savage, N.Y., 1971
Hidden Treasures, Leigh and Leslie Keno, N.Y., 2000
John Lindermuth - J. R. Lindermuth
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