Our eye is immediately drawn to the carved mahogany concave and convex shells, fans of radiating flutes, and ribs with lyrical edges that act as dynamic protrusions and recesses across the front of the eighteenth-century desk. This “block-and-shell” design, a unique symbol of our distinctly American aesthetic, was the product of the woodworking titans of one very small region—Rhode Island. The miniature state has historically been given the lion’s share of credit for virtuosity in American decorative arts, and its masterpieces have dominated furniture scholarship as well as the auction market.
It will be surprising to learn, then, that it has been almost a half century since the last major survey of Rhode Island furniture. But at long last, a more complete story of the colorful history of Rhode Island woodworking and its influence has come to light in the illuminating exhibition “Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650–1830,” located in the almost-as-diminutive State of Connecticut at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Two equally important components were vital to the conception of the exhibit—the lifetime research of Patricia F. Kane (the Friends of American Arts Curator of American Decorative Arts at Yale University Art Gallery) and the establishment of the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Ms. Kane, a tireless champion of American decorative arts, is the driving force behind this exhibition. With expansive abilities, from analysis of stylistic details and deciphering the mysterious cursive markings on furniture drawers