AFA Autumn 2018

Antiques & Fine Art 111 2018 Desk and bookcase, attributed to Nathan Lumbard, Sturbridge, 1798–1802. Cherry, mahogany banding, light- and dark-wood inlay, basswood, white pine. H. 92½, W. 42½, D. 21⅜ in. Winterthur Museum, Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont (1957.885). Photo by Laszlo Bodo. When Charles Woolsey Lyon advertised this stunning object in 1945, he proudly proclaimed “without exception the finest cherry secretary desk recorded.” The praise was justified. Nothing like this had ever come on the market. The bold rendering of the Great Seal of the United States, the creative urn-and-vine inlay, and intricately pierced pediment set it apart. Henry Francis du Pont had to have it for Winterthur, and twenty years later Charles Montgomery chose it for the cover of his landmark catalogue of Winterthur’s Federal period furniture. Yet, the maker of the masterpiece remained a mystery until 1998, when its construction and veneering patterns could be linked to a serpentine chest of drawers made by Nathan Lumbard in 1800 (shown above). Unlike urban craftsmen who often purchased pictorial inlays from specialists, Lumbard made his own. He transformed the Great Seal into a grand, spirited statement dominated by a swanlike bird with a long, curving neck. The stripes of the shield became a brilliant display of exotic woods. At the base, he eliminated the traditional talons, olive branch, and bundle of arrows in favor of floral sprigs. Other craftsmen developed their own variations of the dramatic pattern, most often for the top of candle stands, but the quality of their work does not equal that of Lumbard. Indeed, his homage to the new United States has no peer. Since the publication of Crafting Excellence , the most frequent question that we have received concerns the spelling of Lumbard’s name. In a 1998 article, Brock and Clark wrote it as Lombard. While conducting her exhibition research, Christie found several documents with the craftsman’s signature as well as many printed references to him over his lifetime. In every instance but one, his name is spelled Lumbard. During the 1820s his son Alanson began substituting an o for a u , and descendants continued the practice. Why then had we adopted the spelling Lombard for the article in 1998? Mea culpa! Clark and Brock misread the inscription on the signed chest. For Crafting Excellence , we reverted to his original spelling when referring to Nathan, a decision that will surely confuse bibliographers for years to come. Regardless of how one chooses to spell his name, the furniture illustrated here demonstrates the talents of a masterful craftsman, a true New England original.  Brock Jobe, Christie Jackson, and Clark Pearce are the authors of Crafting Excellence: The Furniture of Nathan Lumbard and His Circle (Winterthur Museum, 2018); distributed by Yale University Press). 1. Coinciding with the conference was a groundbreaking exhibition, Delightfully Designed: The Furniture and Life of Nathan Lombard , curated by then OSV senior curator, Christie Jackson. Her research built upon earlier work on Lumbard by Jobe and Pearce, which appeared in the 1998 issue of American Furniture . These three served as the key speakers at the conference.