Winter 2016

Winter 140 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com Fig. 4: Four Klismos Chairs, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe and made by John Aitken, painted and gilded by George Bridport, Philadelphia, 1808. Tulip poplar, oak (except 1986-126-7: maple, oak), H. 34½, SH. 20, SD, 21 inches. Philadelphia Museum of Art; Purchased with the gift (by exchange) of Mrs. Alex Simpson, Jr., and A. Carson Simpson, and with funds contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Raley and various donors, 1986-126-5-6. Gift of Marie Josephine Rozet and Rebecca Mandeville Rozet Hunt (1935-13-9-10). By 1808 Aitken had enjoyed a thriving furniture making business for over twenty years in a tight, perhaps even saturated, Philadelphia market, and had earned a distinguished reputation among patrons and fellow makers. While he formed partnerships early on, his ability to lease and purchase properties suggests that he was possessed of capital—perhaps a ref lection of his roots in Scotland, where cabinetmaking was often considered a gentleman’s trade. Latrobe and the Walns would certainly have known Aitken’s shop at the east end of the Walns’ block on Chestnut Street. Proximity was not their only criterion, however, for the German émigré cabinetmaker William Spicekennaul operated a shop even closer to the house—at the southwest corner of Seventh and Chestnut. The chairs, card tables, Grecian couch (consistently referred to by Latrobe as a sofa), and settee were progressive in their designs but did not combine the range of skill and materials required by the sideboard. For construction of the furniture to be properly coordinated, it would have required the expertise of someone of the caliber of John Aitken, who, with his shop men, constructed the furniture. They also would have overseen the caning of the seats for the sofas, chairs, and settee, as well as the upholstery by John Rea (1774–1871)—who applied the passementerie and fabric ends for the sofa and made the cushions—and the gilding and painting by George Bridport. Whether the sideboard moved between the shops is not known, but the work of the three artisans overlapped to such an extent that complete collaboration was necessary. In the wake of the economic tumult that followed the War of 1812, Aitken advertised that he was leaving the cabinetmaking business to become a farmer. 15 He and his wife and their four children moved to Chester County to maintain his wife’s family’s farm. This decision coincided with a changing tide in the art of cabinetmaking. Tools and techniques along with shop practice changed in Philadelphia, and a new style of furniture was on the rise. Many cabinetmakers flocked to Washington to help the city rebuild or ventured west to Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. On April 16, 1817, John and Jane Aitken sold some of their properties on Sixth and Chestnut to Thomas Hall for $16,500. 16 Together with Latrobe, the Walns, George Bridport, and John Rea, John Aitken produced a set of furniture that transformed the artistic landscape of Philadelphia—and indeed America. The dramatic profiles of the klismos furniture heralded in a new style of furniture in the classical style—one that adhered closely to the furniture depicted in Greek and Roman art. By mid-1809, Latrobe had contracted with the Baltimore brothers John and Hugh Finlay,