AltaMira Press
Pages: 240
Trim: 9 x 11½
978-0-7591-1954-3 • Hardback • January 2011 • $171.00 • (£133.00)
978-0-7591-1956-7 • eBook • January 2011 • $162.50 • (£125.00)
Elizabeth A. Davison is an independent scholar who wrote her masters thesis on John Shearer while pursuing graduate studies in the Smithsonian/Parsons The New School of Design program in the History of Decorative Arts and Design. She speaks on Shearer's message-laden furniture and continues her search for new pieces that might finally reveal this enigmatic craftsman.
Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Preface: John Shearer: Lost and Found
Chapter 3 Acknowledgments
Part 4 Part I. John Shearer and His Furniture
Chapter 5 Introduction
Chapter 6 Chapter 1. Who Was John Shearer?
Chapter 7 Chapter 2. Inlay and Inscriptions-Reflections of Loyalism, Heritage and Style
Chapter 8 Chapter 3. Observations on John Shearer's Work
Part 9 Part II. Catalog of Known Shearer Furniture
Chapter 10 Note to the Reader
Chapter 11 1. Chest of Drawers, 1801
Chapter 12 2. Chest of Drawers, January 27, 1803
Chapter 13 3. Three-Quarter-High Chest of Drawers, 1803
Chapter 14 4. Two-Drawer Chest of Drawers, May 2, 1804 with Van Meter Two-Drawer Chest of Drawers, 1800
Chapter 15 5. Salome Kramer Chest of Drawers, September, 1809
Chapter 16 6. Christina Kramer Chest of Drawers, November, 1809
Chapter 17 7. Mrs. Elizabeth Richards Chest of Drawers, circa 1808-1814
Chapter 18 8. Bureau Table, January, 1804
Chapter 19 9. Desk-on-Stand, circa. 1790-1801
Chapter 20 10. Desk, circa 1790-1803
Chapter 21 11. Desk, 1798
Chapter 22 12. Desk, circa 1801-1808
Chapter 23 13. Desk-and-Bookcase, 1801 and 1806
Chapter 24 14. Desk, circa 1790-1805
Chapter 25 15. Mr. and Mrs. Emely Dixon Desk, circa 1808-1810
Chapter 26 16. Robert McFarland Presentation Desk, circa 1808-1810 with Samuel Luckett Desk, 1810
Chapter 27 17. Alfred Belt Desk, 1817 with British Burned Desk, 1815
Chapter 28 18. The Order of the Thistle Desk, 1818
Chapter 29 19. Sideboard, circa 1806-1817
Chapter 30 20. Cellaret, 1801
Chapter 31 21. Dressing Glass, circa 1790-1818
Chapter 32 22. Tall Case Clock, 1805 with Tall Case Clock, 1802
Chapter 33 23. Isaac Steere Tall Case Clock, 1814
Chapter 34 24. Dining Table, Six-Leg Marlborough, circa 1790-1808
Chapter 35 25. Dining Table, Molded Six-Leg Marlborough, circa 1790-1808
Chapter 36 26. Dining Table, Compass Design, circa 1790-1818 with Dining Table, circa 1790-1818
Chapter 37 27. Bedroom Table, July 27, 1798
Chapter 38 28. Pembroke Table, circa 1790-1801
Chapter 39 29. Pembroke Table, circa 1790-1818
Chapter 40 30. Pier Table, circa 1802-1810 with Miss Elizabeth Filler Pier Table, circa 1804-1806
Chapter 41 31. One-Drawer Table Stand, circa 1790-1808
Chapter 42 32. Mary Piles Table Stand, 1818 with Table Stands, circa 1790-1818
Part 43 Appendices
Chapter 44 Appendix I: Shear Madness: The Shearer Collectors by Oscar P. Fitzgerald
Chapter 45 Appendix II: John Shearer's Tool Kit, circa 1800-1806 by Brian Coe
Chapter 46 Bibliography
Chapter 47 Index
The curious, message-laden inlays and inscriptions that are almost always found on the furniture of joiner John Shearer make him one of the early South?s most fascinating and enigmatic artisans. Scholars have sought the meaning of these words and images for more than thirty years, but with little success. Author Elizabeth Davidson has at last cracked the code on Shearer?s communiqués, revealing him as a passionate and well informed follower of international events. Her book on the subject will be requiredreading for any serious student of southern furniture...
— Ronald L. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Iconography is a word that doesn't faze Elizabeth Davison. In The Furniture of John Shearer, 1790-1820, her meticulous research records not only what he made, but also unlocks the mind-set of that craftsman in his choice of ornamentation found on so much of his furniture. This is a first-rate study of an aspect of American material culture often neglected, the world of rural craftsmen.
— Charles F. Hummel, Winterthur Museum, Garden, & Library
The curious, message-laden inlays and inscriptions that are almost always found on the furniture of joiner John Shearer make him one of the early South's most fascinating and enigmatic artisans. Scholars have sought the meaning of these words and images for more than thirty years, but with little success. Author Elizabeth Davison has at last cracked the code on Shearer's communiqués, revealing him as a passionate and well informed follower of international events. Her book on the subject will be required reading for any serious student of southern furniture.
— Ronald L. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation