Early American Furniture Cataloging Project

FAIN: PW-228276-15

Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA 19101-7646)
Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley (Project Director: July 2014 to June 2019)

A project to complete basic and in-depth descriptive catalog records of a collection of 1,034 pieces of pre-1840 American furniture manufactured primarily in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) respectfully requests a $175,000 Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant to support a three-year curatorial research project on our renowned collection of early (pre-1840) American furniture. The PMA’s holdings of early American furniture rank among the finest in this country, particularly with regard to the central role that Philadelphia played in the development of American furniture and decorative arts during the 18th and 19th centuries. Yet the current level of information we have assembled on the majority of the works in the collection is both insufficient and, in terms of cataloguing standards, uneven. Grant support will enable both a broader scholarly understanding of, as well as provide greater public access to, this important subject of American art and history.

Media Coverage

American Furniture, 1650-1840: Highlights From The Philadelphia Museum Of Art (Review)
Author(s): Beach, Laura
Publication: Antiques and the Arts
Date: 11/17/2020
Abstract: Alexandra Kirtley's much anticipated book, American Furniture, 1650-1840: Highlights from The Philadelphia Museum of Art, arrives in December, heralding the spring 2021 debut of the PMA’s newly constructed and reinstalled galleries of American art and artifacts.
URL: https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/american-furniture-1650-1840-highlights-from-the-philadelphia-museum-of-art/http://

ALEXANDRA KIRTLEY SHARES DECORATIVE ARTS HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matthew Thurlow and Carrie Greif
Publication: Decorative Arts Trust
Date: 9/22/2020
Abstract: On September 15, 2020, the Trust had the honor of sharing the last tour of the current installation of American decorative arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA). Alexandra Kirtley, the charismatic Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts, led us through the early American art galleries, which are currently closed to the public so that works can be conserved and prepared for reinstallation.
URL: https://decorativeartstrust.org/alexandra-kirtley-pma-post/

More than Meets the Eye: American Furniture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley
Publication: Yale University Press Blog
Date: 12/29/2020
Abstract: After several years of research and writing, the first publication on the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s revered collection of American furniture dating from 1650 to 1840 has arrived.
URL: http://blog.yalebooks.com/2020/12/29/more-than-meets-the-eye-american-furniture-at-the-philadelphia-museum-of-art/

Among the Finest to Be Found: American Furniture from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley
Publication: The Magazine of the Decorative Arts Trust
Date: 12/1/2020
Abstract: Overview of the publication's conception and what makes it unique as stated by the author, Alexandra Kirtley. Volume 7, no. 2, pp. 10-12. This publication is only available to subscribing members of the Decorative Arts Trust and is not available online.

Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum’s American Furniture Collection (Review)
Author(s): Lita Solis-Cohen
Publication: Maine Antiques Digest
Date: 2/25/2021
Abstract: The plan for new galleries at the PMA for the display and interpretation of American art was the impetus for Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, the museum’s Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts, to write a book about the highlights in the American furniture collection, adding new research and documentation and new terms to describe it. In just under 300 works she tells the story of cabinetmakers, carvers, turners, upholsterers, and their customers from 1650 to 1840.
URL: http://https://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/highlights-from-the-philadelphia-museums-american-furniture-collection/8259

Quaker Hautes: A review of the new catalogue American Furniture, 1650–1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Review)
Author(s): Peter M. Kenny
Publication: Magazine Antiques
Date: 3/1/2021
Abstract: For readers with a passion for American furniture and decorative arts, this engaging and beautifully made book--a book to settle in with, and refer back to again and again--is a welcome arrival after the tumult of the last year. This publication presents the Philadelphia Museum of Art's 1100-piece furniture collection in greater focus, honing in on just under one third of its holdings, affording this collection the prominence it deserves.
URL: https://www.themagazineantiques.com/magazine-march-april-2021/

Associated Products

American Furniture, 1650–1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Book)
Title: American Furniture, 1650–1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Author: Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley
Abstract: American Furniture, 1650–1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art is the first publication dedicated to one of the finest collections of its type in the country. Best known for furniture by artisans from Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania, the museum’s collection includes significant examples from cities and regions farther afield. Interpretive texts for each work focus on design sources, showing how early American furniture participated in an international visual language. A vibrant local economy was bolstered by coastal trade bringing Caribbean mahogany and European imports that continued to influence local production. By the 1740s Philadelphia had developed a distinctive idiom and led the developing nation in style and aesthetics. This volume provides an important resource for scholars of American furniture, illuminates the cultural and mercantile life of the fledgling nation, and offers a lively introduction to the donors, curators, and personalities who have shaped the institution from its earliest days to the present. Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley is the Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780876332962/american-furniture-1650-1840
Primary URL Description: Publication page at Yale University Press
Access Model: For purchase
Publisher: Yale University Press published in association with the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780876332962

Philadelphia Furniture: Design, Artisans, and Techniques (Web Resource)
Title: Philadelphia Furniture: Design, Artisans, and Techniques
Author: Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley
Abstract: This website contains in-depth consideration of the progression of the design of the front rails of high chest and dressing table ensembles, which were by the early 1740s a completely American design innovation. The first iteration of philafurniture.com is Kirtley’s taxonomy for describing the rails of Philadelphia high chests and dressing tables; in time, the website will be the place where we will post more about the design inspirations of Philadelphia furniture, construction techniques, and artisans who made, carved, upholstered, and ornamented the furniture. The website seeks to provide a space for the appreciation, study, interpretation, and research on Philadelphia furniture.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://philafurniture.com/

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