Stuff I’m Looking For

The Janvier Family (Cantwell’s Bridge, Odessa, Delaware) including John Janvier, Thomas Janvier, and Peregrine Janvier. Masterful makers of clock cases, distinguished by fretwork broken arch pediments, and waist doors with beautifully scalloped panels. Other case furniture including a number of chests, fluted quarter columns, front to back drawer bottoms, low (but often successful) proportions, deep rear overhang to top.

The McDowell Family (Duck Creek Crossroads, Smyrna, Delaware) including Daniel McDowell, James McDowell, and William McDowell. Some earlier pieces but most well-known for inlaid hepplewhite period furniture. Notable characteristics: a stumpy hepplewhite foot, bold inlaid skirts, low and wide (but sometimes successful) proportions, terrapin shaped escutcheons and inlays. Chamfered corners with line inlay, often three lines drawn to a point at the capital and base. Front to back drawer bottoms, deep rear overhang to top.

Thomas Stevenson and James Stevenson (influenced by the Duck Creek school)

Joseph Newlin (Wilmington). Turn of the century (circa 1800) transitional and Chippendale-style case furniture, a few pieces with neat typed labels known, front to back drawer bottoms with extensive blocking, a rather elegant ogee bracket foot with quarter round hunks of pine as blocking, a very competent cabinetmaker.

Dell Noblett (Wilmington)

George Whitelock (Wilmington). A very skillful cabinetmaker producing Hepplewhite furnishings of high quality.

The Ralph School (Sussex County, Delaware). Corner cupboards of single case construction, primarily of yellow pine, scalloped moldings, some with fylfot pierced panels set inside the top row of panes. Almost always found skinned or over-painted, but extremely desirable in even a cleaned down original paint.

Raised panel furniture from the Eastern Shore. With emphasis on condition and surface.

Delaware and Eastern Shore blanket chests. Variously found characteristics: lids with integral or no molding (some later boxes with separate moldings), lids with side battens, occasional snipe hinges, feet generally without blocking, boldly spurred feet with returns of spurs almost creating a punched hole (eventually simplified by simply drilling a hole about an inch in diameter). Yellow pine, red gum, poplar, and very occasionally cherry. Frequently painted red, blue or green. Few decorated examples. Many examples painted the aforementioned colors but with the moldings (sometimes the entire lid) and the base painted another color. Most commonly found color schemes: red body with blue accents, blue body with red accents, any color body with black accents, etc. There are miniatures of these chests variously bearing these characteristics. Top dollar paid for quality miniature and decorated examples.

Portraits of important Delawareans, and other paintings by the following artists:

Ethel Pennewill Brown Leach