Like women artists, African
American artists have been neglected in the major art history survey texts,
especially when it comes to pre-emancipation. I am always delighted to have an
epiphany about an artist I never knew much about. Although I must admit, it is
extremely difficult to find biographical information about many black and women
artists before the end of the 1800s.
During the 1700s and 1800s there were African American
artists who achieved significant degree of recognition as artists.
Unfortunately, even in the northern United States, it was difficult for African
Americans to prosper greatly as artists before the Emancipation Proclamation of
1864. In Pennsylvania, the Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act of 1780 made it a
little bit easier for blacks to establish a professional reputation. The act
provided that any African American born before 1780 would remain a “slave for
life” unless they were legally “freed.”
In the relative “boom” economy after the American Revolution
(1775–1783), there was a great demand for the miscellaneous arts, particularly furniture, ceramics,
metalwork, and glassware. Many African Americans in the North,
and some in the South, were apprenticed to trained artists based on their
skills from their African roots.
Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood was home to a sizeable population
of free African Americans who provided a thriving artistic service for growing
Philadelphia.
Thomas Gross, Jr. was
apparently a free black person. He had a prosperous business as a cabinetmaker
(furniture maker). As was typical at the time, he also worked as an undertaker
because his woodworking skills made him a handy coffin-builder. This chest-on-chest, which mimics the
then-fashionable highboy, was a practical
storage piece of furniture in a period when closets were not widespread. It
reflects the popular neoclassical style of the Federal
period (ca. 1783–1830) with its geometric simplicity and pediment top. The
chest-on-chest was made in America after the 1750s. Although many of these
chests were designed in the Chippendale style,
simpler versions like this one form the majority. Unlike the highboy that
rested on cabriole legs, the chest-on-chest almost uniformly is supported on
bracket feet. The chest-on-chest form was originally introduced in Britain
around 1700.
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Thomas Affleck (attributed to) (1740-1795, United States), Card table, 1770. Mahogany, oak, pine; 81.3 x 72.4 x 39.7 cm. © Philadelphia Museum of Art. (PMA-2602) |
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Unknown Artist, Tambour Desk from Pennsylvania, 1790-1805. Mahogany and silver mounts. © Philadelphia Museum of Art. (PMA-1574) |
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Unknown artist, Side Chair, 1800. Mahogany. © Philadelphia Museum of Art. (PMA-2287) |
Studio activity: Design a chest that expresses personality.
Take a cardboard box and combine it with cut out shapes in paper to create a
unique cabinet. Color it with markers or watercolor, and indicate drawers with
a black thin-point marker. Express your personality by extending the basic
geometric shape to include curled, folded, and bent shapes on the attached
paper.
Correlations to Davis
programs: Explorations in Art Grade 1:
6.35; A Community Connection: 3.4; A Personal Journey: 3.4; Exploring Visual
Design: 1, 2, 7
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