Furniture hardware from the Boston workshop of Henry K. Hancock

Magazine Antiques, May, 1995 by Jillian Ehninger

HENRY K. HANCOCK respectfully returns his thanks to his friends and the public, for the liberal patronage received from them for thirty-six years past. He hereby gives notice, that it is his intention now to retire from the business of Cabinet and Chair making, and consequently offers for sale all his FURNITURE at reduced prices, consisting of Wardrobes, large and small sizes Extending Dining and other Tables, Library Cases[,] Commodes, Secretary and Book Cases; French Vase and other pattern Beds[t]eads; Wardrobe Bedsteads; Spanish pattern Rocking, Cabriole, parlor and other Chairs; Bureaus; Cabinets, Bagatelle Tables, &c.

All remaining on hand the 13th of November will be offered at auction[.] Also, to the trade and others, he offers for sale all his STOCK and TOOLs at reduced prices.

His Warerooms, No. 667 Washington street, suitable for school rooms or other purposes, are to be let.

Likewise his Workshops, in Kellam place, fitted expressly for the business, but will answer for other uses requiring extensive room, are to be let, connected or separate from his warerooms.

The advertisement offers a tantalizing glimpse into the variety of Hancock's production during his long career, and suggests that he ran a relatively large enterprise, judging by the "extensive room" in his workshops and warerooms. Unlike many cabinetmakers of his generation, he prospered, leaving his widow, Mary Ann Hancock (1795-1871), and daughter, Hannah K. Hancock, an inheritance of fourteen thousand dollars.(2) However, no labeled furniture has come to light, and only a few pieces, made for Hancock's family and now owned by his descendants, can be attributed to him. Strangely, only one of these pieces has ornamental hardware (see Pls. I, III).

Hancock's large collection of furniture hardware either was not included in the 1851 auction or else did not sell with his stock and tools. The many ornamental mounts may not have attracted buyers because they were out of fashion by this time. The collection passed down through Hancock's family after his death in 1854.(3) Recent research suggests that connections exist between the hardware, English metalwork trade catalogues, and businesses in Birmingham, England, indicating that English manufacturers may have imitated French styles and produced high quality metalwork for the American market.(4) It also calls into question the widely published assumption that the metalwork on American Empire furniture is "probably French."(5)

Approximately one quarter of the hardware collection is utilitarian and includes various types of hinges, hooks, latches, and brackets. Half the collection is both functional and decorative, including many patterns of drawer pulls (see Pl. IV) and keyhole escutcheons (see Pl. VIII), both sand-cast and stamped. This group also comprises candle cups with hinged arms for cheval mirrors, "bed caps" to cover the screws holding beds together, "cloak pins," and "portable desk handles."(6) The final quarter of Hancock's inventory is strictly decorative. He had capitals and bases for columns on pier tables and secretaries as well as sand-cast mounts to ornament pier tables, secretaries, and chair rails. His stamped ornaments include many different rosettes with attached spikes (see Pl. I) and a group of small collars (see Pl. II and Fig. 4).

Because the original wrapping papers protected the hardware from light and air, the colors and finishes have been preserved. Their wide variety demonstrates the range of coatings used by manufacturers at the time. A layer of varnish or lacquer protected the metal from tarnishing and if properly tinted, could give the appearance of gold. A more expensive option was fire gilding in which an amalgam of gold and mercury was applied to a base metal and heated until the mercury vaporized, leaving a thin layer of gold.(7)

Seventeen pieces of Hancock hardware were subjected to energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence carried out in the laboratories of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum in Winterthur, Delaware, to determine the elements present.(8) None of the seven stamped mounts tested positive for gold. Of the ten cast mounts, four revealed the presence of gold and mercury (see Pl. IV) and six did not (see Pls. V, VIII), although the surfaces of all ten were visually identical under twenty-power magnification, suggesting that they all received the same protective coating.(9) The test results demonstrate the unreliability of visual analysis of gilt and non-gilt surfaces.

Although most furniture mounts are not marked, many different marks appear on the Hancock pieces. These include "TR" cast into the back of three sets of mounts(10) and "HJ[F?]" embossed on the corners of a large group of stamped collars (see Pl. II and Fig. 4).(11) The initials "TR" have not been identified. However, the "HJ" could refer to Thomas Hands and Williams Jenkins, who were partners between about 1791 and 1803. The superscript letter that might be "F" could stand for "Fecit."(12)