New York and Boston Federal Click on image for details of each furniture piece
Federal Collection, circa 1785-1815 influence In the late eighteenth century, London and Paris were the epicenters of architectural fashion. Robert Adam’s 1774 tome, Works in Architecture, championed the finest expression of the new classical or neoclassical taste, based on recently excavated sites in Pompeii, Italy. George Hepplewhite’s 1788 & Thomas Sheraton’s 1794 books further advanced this aesthetic movement of furniture delineations toward delicacy and refinement, presenting optimal treatments for furniture and upholstery. Their august designs featured beautifully contrasting woods with book-matched veneers, oval-paterae inlays, pendant bellflowers, reticulated carvings, and reeded legs. By 1800, the well-to-do of northern Europe and America had manifested their “Enlightenment” in domiciles and meeting places. The dim chill latitudes came alive with iterations of fruits, flora, rinceau or winding stems. Homes and furnishings were adorned with flowering sprays, swags, garlands, urns, vases and arabesques borrowed from warmer ancient Mediterranean and Oriental climes. This epoch’s unparalleled commitment to fashion, dynamic yet genteel, yielded artworks and materials of superb quality. Creating arcs and ellipses along intersecting planes required excellent eye-hand coordination, a profound understanding of craftwork, fine materials, and a knowledge of abstruse elliptical geometry. It was the zenith of fine craftsmanship. Their transcendent designs in the form of breakfronts, bowfronts, and serpentine cabinetry have enriched posterity ever since. In the years following its Revolution, America’s newly minted citizens sought a collective archetypical identity. They embraced the motifs of Roman and Greek antiquity to inspire a sense of confidence and trust in their new Federal Republic. Great men like Washington and Jefferson reinterpreted Europe’s leading movements on pastoral estates. Structures and furnishings interpreted the logic and sensibility of classicism into a new American vernacular. Emulating ancient forms satisfied romantic yearnings and nostalgia for a past of noble simplicity and serene grandeur. So too the eagle, fasces of arrows, tambour reeds and Greek columns were rendered as symbols of the fledgling nation’s strength and integrity. Furniture scholars and connoisseurs remain fascinated with the American Federal Movement, circa 1785 through 1815. Pivotal furnituremakers created dignified masterpieces of graceful proportion, defining pre-eminent standards of elegance and taste. To this day, the talented artisans John and Thomas Seymour of Boston, Samuel McIntire of Salem, and Duncan Phyfe of New York continue to inspire contemporary furnituremakers. Their influence democratized such symbols as the Ionic volute (spiral) and Gothic (pointed-arch) tracery, rendering perfect beauty both visible and functional. Their collective perseverance and hubristic ambition evince a breathtaking American resolve. Adriance Furnituremakers embraces American Federal designs as aesthetic and intellectual enhancements for formal interiors. The furniture connoisseur & aficionado judges work based on their mastery of shape, balanced proportions, rarity of materials, sophistication of surface-ornamentation, and elusive quality of fine craftsmanship. Now you may own a classic and enduring exemplar of American heritage. If you relish meticulous attention to detail, crisply inscribed carvings and exuberant turnings, Adriance Furnituremakers will handcraft a Federal-style heirloom for you and generations to treasure.
Federal Jewelry Box	Federal Shelf Clock	Eli Terry Pillar & Scroll Clock
Federal Expansion Table	Federal Double Pedestal Expansion Table Saber Legs	Federal Demilune Table
Portsmouth Stand with Box	Federal Bedside Table	Federal Gallery Table
Federal Sewing-Work Table	Federal Pembroke Tea Table	Newport Stand crotch-mahogany drawer
Newport Stand Tiger Maple	Federal End Table	Sideboard with Four Drawers
Federal Bowfront Hall Table	Federal Bedstead with Canopy Frame & Carved Urn Finials Federal Headboard with Spray Inlay	Boston Federal Arm Chair
Federal Cross-Back Arm Chair	Boston Federal Side Chair	Federal Cross-Back Side Chair
Salem Federal Side Chair	Salem Federal Arm Chair	Federal Bench
Martha Washington Lolling Chair	Federal Sofa Frame	Federal Bowfront Chest
Neoclassical China Cupboard	Tambour Console	Federal Desk