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Furniture and Decorative Arts

Hepplewhite Sideboard, c. 1790. Mahogany with inlay. [Acc. #1998.36.22]
Mirror, c. 1815-1820. Two part Sheraton, gilt frame with reverse painting on glass. [Acc. #1289.5]
Hepplewhite Looking Glass, American, c. 1790. Wood, plaster, wire and guild. [Acc. #1998.36]
Banister Back Side Chairs, North Shore, c. 1710. Carved and turned wood with rush seats. [Acc. #2009-25]
Hepplewhite tall clock, Boston, c. 1805. Mahogany and veneer with inlay. [Acc. # 1998.36]
Corner cupboard, c. 1810.
Camera obscura (or peep box), London, c. 1800. painted wood and glass. [Acc. #1177]
Max Kuehne, Desk secretary, c. 1937. Plywood, incised gesso, gilder’s clay, tempera and toned silver leaf. [Acc. #1994.23.1]
Fire buckets, American, c. early 19th century. Leather.
Pagodas, undated. Chinese Carved soapstone. [Acc. #1998.36]
Andirons, American, c. 1790. Brass and wrought iron. [Acc. #1998.36]
Lili Shapiro, S.E.G. Bowl for The Paul Revere Pottery, 1910. Earthenware and glaze. [Acc. #2015. 31]

The Cape Ann Museum has been collecting early American furniture and decorative arts since the 1920s with a special focus on objects which related to Cape Ann and the North Shore. Today, displayed in the Captain Elias Davis House and throughout the galleries, the collection conveys a sense of what life was like on Cape Ann in the past and of the superb level of craftsmanship present along the North Shore over the decades. Highlights from the furniture collection include two Chippendale sideboards—both with direct ties to Cape Ann families—a Sheraton worktable attributed to the great Boston furniture maker Thomas Seymour, and a pair of banister back rush seat chairs which date back to the first quarter of the 18th century and descended through the Dennison Family of Gloucester. Decorative arts in the collection include silver christening basins and beakers made by Paul Revere for Gloucester's First Parish Church, fine examples of Chinese export porcelain and Dutch delftware brought to Cape Ann during the early 1800s via Surinam.

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