Cabinet Maker of Annapolis
Cabinet Maker
of Annapolis
John Shaw was born in 1745 in Glasgow, Scotland. Little is known of his early training as a cabinetmaker, but he was the son of a fairly well established carpenter who probably passed on the tools and techniques of the trade to young John. By the age of 18, John Shaw the Scotsman had landed on colonial American shores. Five years later, the Shaw name begins appearing in the records of some of the more prestigious Annapolis families. In fact, John Shaw's cabinetmaking skills were put to use at the ca. 1766 James Brice House, a grand vernacular house still standing on the corner of Prince George and East Streets in downtown Annapolis. For this site, Shaw crafted 2 mahogany tables, 2 card tables, and and 12 mahogany chairs. Nonetheless, Shaw's earliest known surviving piece of furniture dates to 1773.
During that
period (1772-76), Shaw
entered into a partnership with Archibald Chisolm, but Shaw's concerns would
soon turn away from the partnership and from cabinetmaking in general.
There is no doubt that at the start of the Revolutionary War, Shaw was in full
support of the American cause. Indeed, he became the official Armorer for
the state of Maryland stocking regional militiamen with arms and
munitions. Naturally, Shaw's cabinetmaking skills made him the perfect man
to supply the nascent military with cartridge boxes, camp furniture, packing
crates for weapons, and even coffins. After the War, Shaw continued to be
busy. This time as the "overseer" of the new State House.
Here, he was largely responsible for furnishing the grand building with "24
mahogany arm chairs," "1 neat mahogany" desk for the President, 6
arm chairs of Mahogany with stuffed bottoms covered with crimson, and for 10
additional mahogany desks. Some of the original state house furniture can
still be seen at this Government building today.
One of John Shaw's most important commissions came in 1783 when General George Washington was set to resign his post as the Commander of the Continental Army. Shaw was placed in charge of providing the illumination for Washington's public dinner at the State House. Given the daunting size of the public space in the building, this was no small task, but Shaw must have made the evening a memorable one for Washington and his colleagues. Despite this seemingly proud moment, Shaw had his share of trauma in that year and the ones to follow. In February of 1783, the cabinetmaker's shop near the City Dock burned to the ground--taking with it "all [Shaw's] tools and every other thing in his shop."
In
1784, Shaw opened a new cabinetmaking shop directly adjacent to Maryland's new
Capital building--the same structure for which he had early become the
supervisor. This gambrel-roofed building still stands with many years of
alterations visible on its white facade. It was here that Shaw sold a
variety of ready and custom made goods including furniture, looking glasses,
musical instruments, tea caddies, pewter, and more.
In 1793, tragedy struck again for Shaw when his wife of 16 years Elizabeth Wellstead Pratt died, leaving him to finish rising five sons. But, for Shaw solace came from work, civil service, and faith. He was elected to the St. Anne's Church vestry in 1796 and became a City Councilman in 1801, not abandoning that post until 1812. Orphan's Court proceedings also indicate that Shaw took on several apprentices during the late 1790s and early 1800s increasing his business's capacity to produce and sell furniture. In fact, it is during this period that the majority of Shaw's extant furnishings were made (particular those at the Hammond-Harwood House). The desks, chairs, tables, chest of drawers, sideboards, etc . . . emerging from Shaw's workshop at this time are transitional in style--referred to as the "Annapolis Federal" style by furniture expert William Elder.
John Shaw's second wife, Margaret Stewart, died in 1806, after only 8 years of marriage. Still, the middle-aged Shaw continued to work and prosper. His name appearing in public records up until 1820, John Shaw died in 1829 at the age of 84 years. Shaw's youngest son George would ultimately carry on his father's trade.
The definitive history of Shaw and his furniture was written by William Elder and Lu Bartlett in 1983 as a exhibition catalog for the Baltimore Museum of Art. Little recent scholarship, however, has been done on Shaw and his Annapolis contemporaries.
For more on the life of John Shaw, see . . .
Elder, William Voss and Lu Bartlett, eds. John Shaw Cabinetmaker of Annapolis. Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1983.
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts Craftsmen Records