2016.0005 Chest of drawers, view 1
  • 2016.0005 Chest of drawers, view 1
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Chest of drawers

  • Category:

    Furniture

  • Creator (Role):

    Charles Cameron (Possible maker)

  • Place of Origin:

    Shepherdstown, West Virginia, United States, North America

  • Materials:

    Cherry; Pine, white; Tulip poplar; Mahogany veneer; Sumac

  • Museum Object Number:

    2016.0005


  • Complete Details



Object Number

2016.0005

Object Name

Chest of drawers

Category

Furniture

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase with funds provided by the Henry Francis du Pont Collectors Circle

Creator (Role)

Charles Cameron (Possible maker)
1788/1789-1865
Little is known about Charles Cameron. Apparently, he learned the cabinetmaking trade from Daniel Cameron (1753-1805), either his father or his uncle, a carpenter-cabinetmaker who immigrated to Shepherdstown from Perth, Scotland. Charles appears in the Shepherdstown census of 1820. By 1821, he appears to have found full-time employment in Harper's Ferry in the 1850 census. (Josh Lane, Curator, 2017) The chest is possibly attributed to the shop of Charles C. Cameron. Born in 1788 or 1789 in Jefferson County, Cameron does not appear frequently in documents, but census records indicate he spent most of his life in the Shepherdstown area. Ron Hurst and Jonathan Prown in their assessment of Cameron in Southern Furniture suggest that he may have received some training in a coastal, urban center. Though not for training, Cameron did spend some time in Annapolis (no longer by the nineteenth century a thriving furniture center) serving under Captain John Miller’s regiment during the War of 1812. (Michelle FItzgerald, WPAMC, May 2017)

Place of Origin

Shepherdstown, West Virginia, United States, North America

Materials

Cherry; Pine, white; Tulip poplar; Mahogany veneer; Sumac

Dimensions (inches)

Dimensions (centimeters)

Object Description

Text available soon.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Hurst, Ronald L. & Prown, Jonathan. 1997 Southern Furniture, 1680-1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection.

[Article] Priddy, Sumpter, et al. 1997 "Crossroads of Culture: Eighteenth-Century Furniture from Western Maryland.". American Furniture.

[Book] Marine, William Matthew. 1913 British Invasion of Maryland 1812-1815.
Reference Page 238: “Cameron, Charles C. Sergeant in Capt. John Miller’s co. 2d D. I.; b. Jefferson Co., Va.; age 24; joiner.”