Author Description

<i>American Furniture 2025</i> continues the series and leads the field in the publication of original research on furniture made in America. The 2025 volume includes important new discoveries on individual craftsmen that provide a greater understanding of the larger societal forces that have shaped the lives and output of early American furniture makers. continues the series and leads the field in the publication of original research on furniture made in America. The 2025 volume includes important new discoveries on individual craftsmen that provide a greater understanding of the larger societal forces that have shaped the lives and output of early American furniture makers. Spanning the period from the early eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, and from Edinburgh to the mid-Atlantic and Connecticut, the articles draw upon documentary records and newly discovered forms to expand our understanding of both well-known and largely unknown figures. Cabinetmaker Joseph Armitt ran one of the most significant shops working in Philadelphia prior to 1750 and the re-surfacing of forms only previously known from photographs has allowed for a reassessment of earlier attributions; one of Armitt's previously unidentified competitors is also revealed, a cabinetmaker in the so-called 'Irish Shop.' In turn-of-the-century Virginia, John Shearer is widely known for his eccentric creations, but the identification of his Scottish beginnings, and endings, places his American career in sharper focus and context. Newly found pieces and a wealth of archival material provide a greater understanding of Hartford cabinetmaker Aaron Willard and how his entrepreneurial endeavors allowed him to dominate the local market in the early nineteenth century. A largely unknown figure, Baltimore framer Thomas Palmer is the subject of an article that not only identifies the work of this influential craftsman, but provides an overview of frame production in America from the late eighteenth to mid ninetee