Thomas Affleck
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Thomas Affleck (1740–1795) was an 18th-century American
cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...
, who specialized in furniture in the Philadelphia Chippendale style.


Biography

He was born in
Aberdeen, Scotland Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), an ...
to a devout
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
family. There is no documentation of where he learned his trade, but, based on stylistic similarities to his later work, it is conjectured that he apprenticed under Edinburgh cabinetmaker Alexander Peter. He moved to London in 1760, and immigrated to
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
in 1763. That same year, John Penn, a grandson of Pennsylvania's founder
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, arrived in Philadelphia and was sworn in as governor of the Colony. One of Affleck's first major commissions came in 1766 for a substantial set of furniture for Governor John Penn and his bride, Anne Allen, daughter of
William Allen William Allen may refer to: Politicians United States *William Allen (congressman) (1827–1881), United States Representative from Ohio *William Allen (governor) (1803–1879), U.S. Representative, Senator, and 31st Governor of Ohio *William ...
, the Colony's richest resident.''Philadelphia: Three Centuries,'' p. 100. A nearly identical set of chairs may have been made by Affleck for Governor John Penn's brother Richard, who was the Colony's lieutenant governor. Affleck's first shop was on Union (now Delancey) Street. By 1768 he had moved to Second Street, south of
Dock Creek Dock Creek was a stream draining much of what is now the eastern half of Center City, Philadelphia. It was a tributary of the Delaware River. By 1820, the entire creek had been covered and converted to a sewer. The present-day Dock Street fo ...
. In 1771 he married Isabella Gordon, and was censured by his fellow Quakers for marrying "out of Meeting." The couple had six children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Isabella died in 1782, and he never remarried. Another major commission was for furnishing the Second Street city house of John and Elizabeth Cadwalader. For this Affleck was joined by fellow cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph, and carvers Hercules Courtenay, John Pollard, Nicholas Bernard, and Martin Jugiez. Cadwalader's receipts for the work survive at the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...
, although determining which cabinetmaker made which piece (and which carver carved which) sometimes must be based on attribution. He participated in 1776 protests against war with Great Britain, but it is unclear whether he was a
Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
, a
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
, or both. He was deemed a "dangerous person"—along with a number of his fellow Quakers—in August 1777, and banished to Virginia in October. Seven months later he was allowed to return to Philadelphia. He did not fight in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
on either side. Merchant Levi Hollingsworth was a patron and friend of Affleck's. A suite of furniture with identically carved legs – twin high chests, matching twin dressing tables, a set of 8 chairs, twin pie-crust tea tables – descended in the Hollingsworth family. During the war, Affleck sometimes traded furniture to Hollingsworth for materials and other goods. One of the pie-crust tea tables was traded to Hollingsworth for a 7-gallon cask of rum. He moved his shop to Elmslie's Court in 1791. In 1790 Philadelphia became the temporary national capital for a 10-year period, while Washington, D.C. was under construction. Affleck may have made the chairs in
Congress Hall Congress Hall, located in Philadelphia at the intersection of Chestnut and 6th Streets, served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790, to May 14, 1800. During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United State ...
for the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Affleck died in 1795. His eldest son, Lewis, continued as a cabinetmaker.


Examples of his work

* Card table (1750–75, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
. * Side chair (1760–70, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
. * Clothes press (1760–90, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. * Side chair (c. 1763–72, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Philadelphia Museum of Art. * Side chair (c. 1765–75, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Dayton Art Institute The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) is a museum of fine arts in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The Dayton Art Institute has been rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children. The museum also ranks in the top 3% of all art mus ...
, Dayton, Ohio. * Marlborough-leg armchair (1765–75, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Metropolitan Museum of Art. * Side chair (1765–80, mahogany, possibly by Affleck), Mabel Brady Garvan Collection,
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
. * Chest-on-chest (c. 1770, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana (culture), Americana in the United States. The museum and es ...
, Winterthur, Delaware. Made for Vincent Loockerman of Dover, Delaware. * Chest-on-chest (1770–75, mahogany, attributed to Affleck, carving attributed to James Reynolds), Metropolitan Museum of Art. * Side chair (1770–75, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Metropolitan Museum of Art. * Chest-on-chest (1770–85, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Philadelphia Museum of Art. * Chest-on-chest (1775–80), attributed to Affleck,
Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern H ...
, Germantown, Philadelphia. * Marlborough-leg camel-back sofa (1775–1800, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Diplomatic Reception Rooms The Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of State constitute forty-two principal rooms and offices where the Secretary of State conducts the business of modern diplomacy. Located on the seventh and eighth floors of the Harry S Trum ...
, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. * Senate armchair (1790–93, mahogany, possibly made by Affleck), Philadelphia Museum of Art. * House of Representatives armchair (1794, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Metropolitan Museum of Art.


Governor John Penn furniture

* Marlborough-leg camel-back sofa (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern H ...
, Germantown, Philadelphia. Believed to be part of the furnishings made for Governor John Penn. * Pair of Marlborough-leg armchairs (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Fa ...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. * Pair of Marlborough-leg armchairs (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Philadelphia Museum of Art. * Pair of Marlborough-leg armchairs (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. * Pair of Marlborough-leg armchairs (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Metropolitan Museum of Art. * Marlborough-leg armchair (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck), Winterthur Museum. * Marlborough-leg armchair (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...
. * Marlborough-leg armchair (c. 1766, mahogany, attributed to Affleck),
Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...
. Three additional Marlborough-leg armchairs from the set are in private collections. One sold at Christie's New York in 2007 for $1,049,000.


Cadwalader furniture

Made for John and Elizabeth Cadwalader. The furniture consisted of at least thirteen chairs, a pair of serpentine-front sofas, a pair of card tables, an easy chair, and four fire screens. * Hairy-paw-foot side chair (c. 1770, mahogany), Metropolitan Museum of Art. * Hairy-paw-foot easy chair (1770–71, mahogany), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Set a world auction record for a piece of furniture when it was sold at Sotheby's New York in 1987 for $2,750,000. Donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2002. * Hairy-paw-foot card table (1770–71, mahogany), Philadelphia Museum of Art. * Hairy-paw-foot card table (1770–71, mahogany), Dietrich Americana Foundation, Reading, Pennsylvania. * Hairy-paw-foot fire screen (about 1770, mahogany), Metropolitan Museum of Art. * Hairy-paw-foot fire screen (1771, mahogany), Philadelphia Museum of Art. * Hairy-paw-foot fire screen (1771, mahogany), Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware. * Hairy-paw-foot fire screen (1771, mahogany), private collection.


Levi Hollingsworth furniture

* Twin high chests (1765–75, walnut, attributed to Affleck). One is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the other was auctioned at Christie's New York, 16 January 1998; now in a private collection."The Important Levi Hollingsworth Family Chippendale Carved Walnut High Chest-of-Drawers, Matching Dressing Table and Sidechair."
Auctioned at Christie's New York, 16 January 1998, realized $2,972,500.
* Twin dressing tables (1765–75, walnut, attributed to Affleck). One is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the other was auctioned at Christie's New York, 16 January 1998; now in a private collection. * Camel-back sofa (c. 1768, mahogany with yellow upholstery, possibly by Affleck), Philadelphia Museum of Art. * Set of 8 chairs (1779, mahogany, documented to Affleck). One chair is a promised gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art; another chair was auctioned at Christie's New York, 16 January 1998, now in a private collection; other chairs in private collections. * Pie-crust tea table (1779, mahogany, documented to Affleck), auctioned at Christie's New York, 26 January 1995, realized $398,500; now in a private collection. * Pie-crust tea table (1779, mahogany, documented to Affleck), deaccessioned from Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2012; auctioned at Sotheby's New York, 25 January 2013, realized $146,500; now in a private collection.Hollingsworth pie-crust tea table
from Sotheby's NY.
File:Clothes Press MET ADA267.jpg, Clothes press (c. 1760-80), Metropolitan Museum of Art. File:Side chair attributed to Thomas Affleck, c. 1765-75, mahogany with modern upholstery, Dayton Art Institute.JPG, Side chair (c. 1765–75),
Dayton Art Institute The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) is a museum of fine arts in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The Dayton Art Institute has been rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children. The museum also ranks in the top 3% of all art mus ...
, Dayton, Ohio. Part of the set made for Levi Hollingsworth. File:Independence2.JPG, Governor's Council Chamber,
Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Fa ...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The blue Marlborough-leg armchairs are believed to have been part of the set made for Governor John Penn. File:NOTABLE PERIOD FURNISHINGS, PARLOR - Cliveden, 6401 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA HABS PA,51-GERM,64-99 (CT).tif, Marlborough-leg camel-back sofa (c. 1766),
Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern H ...
, Germantown, Philadelphia. Possibly made for Governor John Penn. File:Firescreen, Philadelphia, 1770-1775, attributed to Thomas Affleck with carving attributed to Martin Jugiez, mahogany - Chazen Museum of Art - DSC02636.JPG, Firescreen (c. 1770-75), Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin. File:Side Chair MET DT7537.jpg, Side chair (c. 1770-75), Metropolitan Museum of Art. File:Chest-on-chest MET DT10422.jpg, Chest-on-chest (c. 1770-75), Metropolitan Museum of Art. File:Chest-on-chest MET DT10423.jpg, Finial (c. 1770-75), carving attributed to James Reynolds, Metropolitan Museum of Art.


Notes


Further reading


"Thomas Affleck"
from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. * "Thomas Affleck," ''Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art'' (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976), pp. 98–99. * Nicholas B. Wainwright, ''Colonial Grandeur in Philadelphia: The House and Furniture of General John Cadwalader'' (Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1964). {{DEFAULTSORT:Affleck, Thomas Artists from Philadelphia 1745 births 1795 deaths American cabinetmakers People from Aberdeen People of colonial Pennsylvania Scottish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies People from Philadelphia