Baltimore Painted Furniture: Costume jewelry for the elite 19th century

 Seeing a french example of high style empire design may have influenced the Findlays Sofa for Hampton House.

 Design, carving, painting all unite to create a balance of unequaled excellence.

 The decorative painting is a masterful mix of stenciling, hand painting, pen work and glazing.

Baltimore painted furniture of the 19th century holds a deep attraction for me both as an artist and furniture designer.  It was a niche market, a subcultural aspect of home furnishings.  Sure, England had produced some high style painted pieces, and in this country Philadelphia, New York and New England had their followers, but the pieces made in Baltimore were in my opinion, the best of the best.  No where else was there such a fine blending of both the form and design of the furniture itself with the decorative painted work which was applied to the form.  This splendid marriage of sculptural form and two dimensional painted work can be seen so clearly on the suite of furniture that the Findlay brothers, John and Hugh, created for the Ridgely family of Hampton, around the 1840's.  One of the things I find so unique about Baltimore's painted furniture is that, from an artisans viewpoint, much of this work started out as a way to copy the most high style furniture which was being produced in England and France at the time, but was not readily available for import to Maryland.  The next best thing?  Someone with a creative bend and and entrepreneurial spirit could "imitate" the look of furniture mounted with fire gilded bronze ornaments, relief carving, exotic woods or brass inlays ALL WITH PAINT.  One of the Findlay brothers made the trip across the ocean to England in the 19th century, probably was exposed to numerous examples of fine furniture and architecture that he would have never had the access to here in the states at the time.  I believe he brought back source books of engraved designs which would have been like a gold mine of inspiration at the time, books being rare and expensive.  This trip and the source books put the Findlays head and shoulders above the rest of the pack of artisans of the time.  Traveling to Europe in those days was a life and death endeavor, but the risk paid off for the Findlays.  They created furniture for the most wealthy and elite families of their day,  as well as worked with the architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who I will describe more of the Findlays growth through the collaboration with this genius who helped shape the look of the presidency.  Please join me for a trip back in time!