NEW YORK, NY.- “Very rich and handsome,” as Bostonian Abby Breese Salisbury described a group of furniture she had commissioned from the Boston cabinetmaking firm of Isaac Vose & Son on behalf of her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth Tuckerman Salisbury and Stephen Salisbury of Worcester, might apply as well to the best of American furniture made in the various cabinetmaking centers in the United States— Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore—in the first decades of the 19th century. Using as their inspiration not only the popular design books of the day, but also furniture being imported from England and the Continent as well as the memory of pieces seen abroad, American cabinetmakers produced a stunning array of furniture that continued the great tradition of American design and craftsmanship that had been firmly established in the 18th century. Whether distinguished with carved figures of winged ladies, lions, swans, or eagles, ornamented with French fire-gilded or English gilt-brass mounts, English die-rolled gilt-brass moldings, or even only with the finest mahogany and rosewood veneers, the products that emanated from the best American shops of the day were, in their own and various ways, “very rich and handsome.”

Very Rich & Handsome, American Neo-Classical Decorative Arts, is a multi-media survey exhibition of furniture, metalwork, silver, lighting, ceramics, and glass made in America or specifically for an American clientele between 1810 and the early 1840s. Illustrating the strength and breadth of American artistry and workmanship, this exhibition visually reminds us of the indigenously American Neo-Classicism that Hirschl & Adler Galleries has previously explored through comprehensive exhibitions and publications over the last 24 years. Very Rich & Handsome, the sixth exhibition in the gallery's series, has been curated by father-daughter team Stuart P. Feld and Elizabeth Feld.

Furniture highlights include a vigorously carved sofa punctuated by six eagle heads with open beaks attributed to the Boston firm of Isaac Vose & Son and likely from the suite that Abby Salisbury referred to in her letter as “very rich and handsome.” With an interesting documented history, this sofa, arresting in design and of consummate quality, is only one of many notable examples in the show from Boston. Another extraordinary discovery is an elaborate linen press featuring vibrant mahogany veneers and crowned with a unique pediment that incorporates a whole dictionary of Boston motifs. From New York, a monumental breakfront bookcase, attributed to the celebrated cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe, about 1810–20 and never previously publicly exhibited, joins a group of refined New York card tables by Phyfe, Charles-Honoré Lannuier, and Joseph Brauwers. Philadelphia is represented by an elaborate rosewood and ebony and brass-inlaid secretary desk of about 1820, thought to be the work of Joseph Barry. A rare pair of painted and gilded card tables by John and Hugh Finlay of Baltimore that have survived in pristine condition reminds us how extraordinary this furniture originally looked. The nearly fifty pieces of furniture gathered for Very Rich & Handsome tell the aesthetic tale of each of these American cities at the moment that our young nation was establishing its own identity on the world stage.

As a complement to the furniture, a broad selection of decorative arts objects demonstrate a nascent national style and a burgeoning sophistication in quality and design meant to emulate and accompany parallel examples made abroad. From a pair of lead-glass urns made by Bakewell, Page & Bakewell of Pittsburgh, to rare and important “Old Paris” porcelain vases bearing the likenesses of American worthies, to finely wrought American silver by the best silversmiths in New York and Philadelphia, to choice examples of Chinese porcelain made for export to America, these objects provide a greater depth of understanding of the distinct style that developed in America during this time.

Very Rich & Handsome will remain on view through Friday, February 13, 2015, and will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with comprehensive essays on each work in the show.