Rustic furniture

In studies on the history of antiques and materials is opposed styles "rustic" (traditional, popular or provincial) to those who are more refined and starched. What is hardy to some and pleases by its decoration and painted finish can be considered rude and primitive by others. While some might expect that style furniture are made of finest hardwoods (walnut, yellow birch [incorrectly called cherry in Canada], mahogany), and rustic furniture carved from soft wood like pine, a true understanding of the differences between refined and rustic furniture beyond simple class of materials and manufacturing methods and involves other factors such as location and time of manufacture.

We can say that rustic furniture is a major object inspired styles or trends (Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Sheraton) made from local woods and limited by the size of toolbox, imagination and skill of cabinetmaker. Found in rustic furniture items in the same style furniture (tables, chairs, desks, cabinets, chests), plus additional forms.

High Back Bench

This rustic sofa is from Upper Canada and Ontario remains current for almost the entire nineteenth century (courtesy of the Black Creek Pioneer Village).

Maritimes

Colonization of the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island) is essentially a rural experience. Although port cities such as Halifax and St. John are the centers of political, social and economic importance, most people live in small communities who depend on fishing or agriculture. Because of distance, lack of proper roads and the lack of reliable transport and communications, contacts between the regions are limited and rural settlements are isolated from urban centers and major trends in fashion and taste.

After the deportation of the Acadians, entre1755 and 1763 (see ACADIA), comes the first wave of immigrants, PLANTERS (farmers) of New England, followed by LOYALIST in 1783-1784, and finally many Scots in the early nineteenths century. While many of these settlers brought with them their own furniture, it is among immigrants from cabinet makers, carpenters and joiners whose arrival and establishment quickly lead to the production of furniture that reflect the indigenous character of the Maritimes Canada, inspired by English and American styles with which the artisans are familiar.

As the cabinet is essentially a traditional craft powered by a system of LEARNING and the furniture styles tend to last for long periods, rustic furniture manufactured in the Maritime from 1770 to 1850 repeat the earlier styles such as Chippendale. Only in the cities, which are open to the arrival of new fashions, styles of furniture follow news and desk?

The rural nature of society in the Maritimes also influences the choice of materials. Except in urban centers, particularly port cities, where local artisans can get exotic woods like mahogany, most furniture is made from local wood (pine, birch, maple). Are commonly used veined hardwood (birch, maple) for furniture and rustic style furniture, because of their decorative grain? Rustic furniture, especially pine furniture, often painted to imitate the style of furniture in exotic woods. In some cases, painted finish, often in bright colors, is what most distinguishes the rustic furniture.

Indeed, all ethnic groups make the same kinds of furniture: chests, blanket chests, tables of various sizes with or without drawers, chairs with or without arms, corner, and buffets. Groups however, are not all represented in the three provinces, and some groups are more generous in the details of some types of furniture than others.

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island

The furniture in the Scottish and Irish XIX^th century seems centered around the kitchen dresser against the wall whose upper portion is generally open. Many of these buffets are made by unknown craftsmen, but Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is replete with examples of furniture signed or bearing the mark of the artisan. Thus, Benjamin Chappell, wheelwright London arrived in 1774, and Samuel Bagnall, loyalist came from Philadelphia in 1787, are well known for their chairs, which we now find copies in public and private collections.

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is also rich in furniture made by artisans known, particularly in Saint John, the main center of cabinet. Among the known cabinetmakers who worked before 1800, there Chillas Robert, arrived in New York in 1783, Daniel Fowler, who settled in 1785, and Nathan Oaks and Robert Blackwood, who receive their papers free of a man (Freeman papers) respectively in 1795 and 1796, granted after payment of a fee and an oath of allegiance to enable them to operate a business in Saint John.

Nova Scotia

Like St. John, Halifax remains an important center of cabinet. It arrives in Nova Scotia the largest group of "foreign Protestants" in the Maritimes. LUNENBURG was founded in 1753 by German immigrant’s phones. Although less than 2,000 at the beginning, the Germans will breathe in Lunenburg tradition and culture alive. Casper Jung, who anglicized his name to Young, is a leading furniture manufacturer in the city, where he is listed in 1794 as a turner and wheelwright.

In Halifax, many examples of Windsor-style chairs are signed James Cole (circa 1817), arrived at Halifax from the United States, George Gammon (1838), who works at Cole Harbour, Halifax County, and Joy Humeston (circa 1805), which manufactures chairs and sofas Bamboo Windsor. The Sibley family of Colchester County produces other furniture too, but she is best known for his cross fretwork chairs and patterned in the shape of mushrooms. The line begins with Joseph Sibley (born 1790), known locally as a manufacturer of chairs, and the Sibley continue to operate until 1900.

In the Maritimes, are in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia most immigrants from French-speaking Acadians, who settled first at PORT-ROYAL in 1605? The deportation of the Acadians is accompanied by the confiscation or destruction of property they can carry with them. That's why most of the furniture we identify today as "Acadian" actually dates back to the period after the deportation, marked by the return in the region of French-speaking Acadians in 1764.

By the mid-nineteenth century, mechanization and factory production have rapidly supplanted craftsmanship. Although the older styles have persisted until the late nineteenths century in some rural areas, including Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island, learning woodworking craft slowly crumbling with the advent of the industrial era in the Maritimes.