The Coggeshalls In America

Vol 1 905p Vol 2 961p.

This publication documents The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of early colonial furniture and presents a broad spectrum of furniture forms made in America during the 17th and early 18th centuries, including chairs and other seating, tables, boxes, various types of chests and cupboards, dressing tables, and desks. The volume also includes prime examples of the different modes of ornamentation in fashion during that period. Over 140 objects are thoroughly described, with detailed information given on each one's construction, condition, dimensions, materials, and inscriptions and other marks, as well as provenance and exhibition history. Every object is explained in terms of the styles and craftsmanship of the period and evaluated in light of comparative pieces in public and private collections throughout the country. Also included is one appendix containing photographic details of construction and decorative elements, and another with line drawings explaining furniture terms and showing various types of joints and moldings. This is the first volume in a series of two that is dedicated to American furniture in the Museum. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

“One of the more significant recent pieces of scholarship in this area . . . essential reading for all students of early America.” —Journal of American History Departing from traditional approaches to colonial legal history, Mary Sarah Bilder argues that American law and legal culture developed within the framework of an evolving, unwritten transatlantic constitution that lawyers, legislators, and litigants on both sides of the Atlantic understood. The central tenet of this constitution—that colonial laws and customs could not be repugnant to the laws of England but could diverge for local circumstances—shaped the legal development of the colonial world. Focusing on practices rather than doctrines, Bilder describes how the pragmatic and flexible conversation about this constitution shaped colonial law: the development of the legal profession; the place of English law in the colonies; the existence of equity courts and legislative equitable relief; property rights for women and inheritance laws; commercial law and currency reform; and laws governing religious establishment. Using as a case study the corporate colony of Rhode Island, which had the largest number of appeals of any mainland colony to the English Privy Council, she reconstructs a largely unknown world of pre-Constitutional legal culture. “The book is rich in social history as well, with the evolving status of women and institutional religion providing much of the legal grist.” —Choice

This volume features nearly 500 paintings, watercolors, pastels, and miniatures from Harvard University's storied, yet little-known, collection of American art. These works, many unpublished, are drawn from the Harvard Art Museums, the University Portrait Collection, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and other entities, and date from the early colonial years to the mid-19th century. Highlights include a rare group of 17th-century portraits, along with important paintings by Robert Feke, John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, and Washington Allston, in addition to works depicting western and Native American subjects by Alexandre de Batz, Henry Inman, and Alfred Jacob Miller, among others. Each work is accompanied by scholarly commentary that draws on extensive new research, as well as a complete exhibition and reference history. An introduction by Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. describes the history of the collection. Lavishly illustrated in color, this compendium is a testament to the nation's oldest collection of American art, and an essential resource for scholars and collectors alike.

Merchant John Banister (1707-1767) of Newport, Rhode Island, wore many hats: exporter, importer, wholesaler, retailer, money-lender, extender of credit and insurer, owner and outfitter of sailing vessels, and ship builder for the slave trade. His recently discovered accounting records reveal his role in transforming colonial trade in mid-18th century America. He combined business acumen and a strong work ethic with knowledge of the law and new technologies. Through his maritime activities and real estate development, he was a rain-maker for artisans, workers and producers, contributing to income opportunities for businesswomen, freemen and slaves. Drawing on Banister's meticulous daybooks, ledgers, letters and receipts, the author analyzes his contribution to the economic history of colonial America, highlighting the complexity of the commerce of the era.