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Furniture
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Furniture Collection
All of our furniture designs have their roots in America’s history.
These roots go back as far as the Pilgrims – our trestle table is a design that could have been at the first Thanksgiving.
You will notice other names like Chippendale, Queen Anne, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Pennsylvania German, and Shaker.
Each of these names is connected to a period in time and a distinctive furniture style.
Most people who collect American antique furniture do not collect a particular style.
Collections can consist of a variety of pieces that have their own personality.
Some of these pieces are more formal Queen Anne or Chippendale style, and some are more primitive Folk style.
Collectors have put these items together because each piece had its own story to tell and was unique.
Furniture from The Workshops of David T. Smith enables you to build your own collection. Each piece is unique; every one from a period in time or a region of the country.
However, today being special or unique is not enough – these pieces must also be functional.
You can furnish your home with our line of furniture.
Beds, tables, entertainment centers, and computer desks are designed to be both unique and functional.
CONSTRUCTION
We practice period cabinetmaking techniques using solid wood construction.
Drawers are dovetailed. Doors are mortised, tenoned, and pegged.
Backboards are ship lapped. We use glue blocks to strengthen moldings and feet.
We will use modern techniques if we feel they add to the quality of the piece without spoiling the historical integrity.
Our kitchens, built in furniture, entertainment centers and computer desks, with a more modern function, could have metal drawer slides, plywood sides, backs and shelves where appropriate. This is done to make the piece more serviceable and durable. A combination of hardwood and plywood will help reduce wood movement. The final piece will have an antique look, but a modern function. We will use modern techniques if we feel they add to the quality of the piece without spoiling the historical integrity.
Traditionl furniture will be built with solid primary wood, such as curly maple or cherry, and poplar wood as the secondary wood, for backs, shelves, drawer boxes, and inserts. Where it is deemed necessary, cherry or curly maple plywood may be used and will be noted or discussed when designing your piece of furniture. Cherry or curly maple shelves and backs are available at an additional cost.
FINISH
As it is the first thing you see, the finish on a piece of furniture is like the icing on the cake.
Whether a piece is stained or painted can totally change its personality and determine where it may be used in your home.
Furniture stained in dark rich colors on cherry or mahogany belong in more formal bedrooms and living rooms.
Stained curly maple or poplar painted pieces go well in the keeping room, family room or less formal bedrooms.
Furniture History
William and Mary Period 1690 – 1725
 As life became less hard in the colonies, American Craftsmen began to copy late English Baroque style, the so-called William and Mary designs. These were the first true American cabinetmakers, employing sophisticated woodworking techniques such as veneering, dovetail joinery, turnings and case construction.
They built complex pieces, such as highboys and lowboys; tall and short chests of drawers on extended legs. William and Mary chests and desks typically had scrolled skirts and trumpet turned legs. During this time the first distinctly American furniture design appeared; the butterfly table and a drop leaf table with wide curved supports.
Queen Anne Period 1725 – 1760
 European cabinetmakers, enamored of imported Oriental furniture, began to incorporate Japanese and Chinese design elements into their own pieces. Americans followed suit a few years later. These elements include the cabriole leg, ball and claw foot and shell carvings. The cyma curve or ogee was used everywhere on Queen Anne pieces.
Craftsman of different areas began to work in certain different types of wood. In New England, cabinet makers preferred curly maple. In Connecticut, they built furniture in cherry. In Pennsylvania, walnut was the wood of choice. In the Carolinas, cypress and heart pine was used. In port cities, craftsmen used imported mahogany. These regional preferences remained throughout the remainder of the country era.
Overall the designs were less cluttered, lighter, and more graceful than previous styles.
Chippendale Period 1760 – 1780
 In 1754, Thomas Chippendale published The Gentleman and Cabinet-Makers Director;
“A Pattern Book of Ornate Designs”. His designs used many basic Queen Anne forms, but they were heavier and added decoration such as carved finials and pieced fretwork.
He also introduced the straight line as a design element; many Chippendale pieces had square untapered legs and applied bracket bases.
The American interpretation of Chippendale’s designs was much more restrained than the English. In the American country cabinet shops, there was little change from the Queen Anne style – country cabinetmakers and their clients could not afford the expensive Chippendale carving and ornamentation.
Federal Period 1780 - 1820
Hepplewhite & Sheraton
 Hepplewhite and Sheraton furniture followed the neoclassic design trend that began in the late eighteenth century. The shapes of their furniture were simple, light, and graceful. Hepplewhite used more straight lines and Sheraton pieces were known for their turned legs and paneled chest ends. The flat surfaces of city-made pieces were often decorated with exotic woods, veneers, and inlays of eagles and patriotic symbols.
Because these designs were simpler, they were much more imitated than Chippendale by country craftsmen. These craftsmen could not afford the expensive imported woods so they developed techniques to paint their local woods to look as though veneered. This Grain Painted technique became popular among country folks.
West Indies Furniture 1750 – 1875
 Of all the furniture crafted in the West Indies, Danish West Indian furniture is the most distinctive, stylish, and classical. It is large, boldly proportioned, often with over-scaled carving and turning, and it is always made from richly figured tropical hardwoods.
Danish West Indian furniture began to be made around the middle of the eighteenth century and continued into the late 19th century.
Mahogany remained the wood of choice for the island cabinetmakers and was most often used as both the primary and secondary wood. With time, the copies of imported furniture became more interpretive than exact. The craftsmen began to use traditional African zoomorphic decorative motifs and motifs from tropical flora and fauna. The continual importation of West African slaves until the mid-nineteenth century ensured the survival of African motifs.
This style furniture is similar to American Sheraton and Empire furniture.
Pennsylvania German Furniture 1730 – 1840
 The craftsmen who made this style furniture were immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. They settled in Pennsylvania, but banded together in tight, conservative communities that preserved their Old World traditions. The popular furniture forms that they built were wardrobes, dower chests, chest of drawers, cupboards, tables, and plank seat chairs.
Typical design elements of these pieces were fancy forged iron hardware, detailed moldings and cutouts, and brightly colored painted decorations.
Medieval European folk painted decoration included hearts, tulips, distelfinks, unicorns, stars, and other geometric shapes.
Shaker Furniture 1790 -1935
 Shaker furniture was developed by a strict religious order, The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. It was founded by Mother Ann Lee in 1774 at Watervaliet, New York. For fifty years there were over 6,000 believers in 19 communities throughout the East and Midwest.
As the sect grew, they began to make their own furniture, based on traditional English forms. However, because the Shakers believed that “beauty rests on utility”, they stripped these pieces of almost all ornament. In doing so, they created a style whose forms rested purely on function. There was beauty in simplicity.
The Shakers are known for many articles that were made in their communities. Their furniture, oval storage boxes, rocking chairs, and the flat brooms are featured in many museum collections around the country.
Folk / Country Furniture
 Folk / Country furniture was made by the common man for his family or his friends. It was made in all areas of the country from Pilgrim times to the late 19th century. It was made of available wood with basic hand tools. Folk Furniture was varnished or painted in basic bright colors, or sometimes grain painted.
This style was influenced by the classic furniture styles but the craftsman often developed his own style based on his functional needs, materials available, and tools and skills that were at hand.
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