New Perspectives on the Workshop of Gustave Stickley

Side Chair

Slover and Taylor

1802-04 (ca.)

Described in the 1802 "New York Book of Prices for Cabinet and Chair Work," as "square back chair no. II with five gothic arches and four turned columns" this chair is evidence that well before the modern factory system, standardization of models and forms existed. The publication of this design meant that virtually any Federal-period maker could replicate the form, and that explains why this model is seen from disparate makers throughout the eastern United States. Unlike the curving asymmetry of the Rococo period that preceded it, the Federal period is marked by a quiet classicism whose hallmark is restraint.

Aside from the dates of their partnership, little is know about the partnership of Abraham Slover and Jacob B. Taylor, cabinetmakers located at 94 Broad Street, New York. Because Slover listed himself as a grocer in 1805–although Taylor kept the same address through 1811–the partnership is presumed to have been short-lived.