BOSTON FURNITURE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURYReview by: Neville ThompsonArt Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 6, No. 2(Summer 1987), p. 97Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27947766 .

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Art Documentation, Summer, 1987 97

BOSTON FURNITURE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY? Charlottesville, Va. : University Press of Virginia, 1986, c1974.? ISBN 0-8139-1125-7 ; LC 74-81739 : $35.00.

Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century is the welcome reappearance of a volume originally published in 1974 by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and now reissued in iden tical format by the University Press of Virginia which deserves great credit for continuing to make this important resource available. The work originated as a series of papers delivered at the Colonial Society's second annual conference on New England culture, papers that were subsequently edi ted and in some cases expanded, and supplemented for publication by a bibliography and a list of all known eigh teenth-century Boston furniture craftsmen. (Libraries owning the 1974 publication should realize that these last two features have not been updated for this publication).

Boston in the eighteenth century was a wealthy commer cial and governmental center, a focus of export-import trade, and a well-known center for fine furniture making. It was a city where, from the governor's mansion on down, exemplary pieces, both imported and locally produced, could be seen, copied, and used as inspiration. Although the city's role as a focus of this craft has always been well known, it may come as a surprise to some readers (as it did to me) that between 1725 and 1760 thirty percent more such craftsmen are known to have worked in Boston than in any other North American urban center (the next greatest number was found in Phila delphia). Much of what they produced has been appreciated and cared for from that day to this. For all these reasons, it may seem strange that an examination of the trade and its products did not appear sooner, though the sheer size of the topic may have proved daunting. The excellent volume we now have is the result of the work of a number of scholars examining many aspects of the topic.

The eight essays reprinted here begin with an overview of the industry during the earlier part of the century, which sets the stage for the more detailed examinations of special topics

which follow. The japanned furniture for which the city was known is examined, as are the documentary sources avail able for the study of this craft. Further chapters cover another Boston specialty, bomb? furniture; the block-fronted pieces produced here; furniture carving and its practitioners; and the career of the eminent cabinetmaker Benjamin Frothingham. Uniformly, these contributions are the product of careful scholarship, meticulous research, and good docu mentation. To support the essays, the volume is generously illustrated with maps, diagrams, and a number of black-and

white photographs of serviceable quality. The original con ference was accompanied by an exhibition at which many of these pieces, or others of similar quality, could be seen at leisure; readers wishing to learn more about such work

should make an effort to see such pieces in a museum setting for themselves. No photograph can substitute for this experi ence, and the illustrations that accompany the essays were not meant to.

In a way, users of this volume may well have benefitted from its relatively recent appearance, for the writers have not hesitated to use modern tools borrowed from other disci plines such as history and the sciences (such as the micro analysis of wood structures, which can help determine the origin of an undocumented piece). Gordon Saltar's listing of "Boston cabinet woods of the eighteenth century" testifies to the value of such data for the furniture scholar. Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century is not for every library or for every reader. It is not a picture book, but a serious, detailed examination of its subject for the already informed and interested reader. Casual readers might find certain chapters heavy going, but, by the same token, those libraries with such an informed and motivated readership would find it an essential purchase.

Neville Thompson Winterthur Museum

OTHER REVIEWS THE APOCALYPTIC SUBLIME / Morton D. Paley.?New Haven : Yale University Press, 1986?ISBN 0-300-03674-4 ; LC

86-1706 : $ n.p.

Morton D. Paley focuses on a curious facet of English Ro mantic art: the portrayal of apocalyptic subjects as sublime experiences. In the introductory first chapter, Paley defines "apocalypse" as "not a mere catastrophe but a divine revela tion." He uses "sublime" as originally defined by Edmund Burke in 1756, the "chief characteristic" of which is a form of "terror": the mind overwhelmed by fear, apprehensive of death. Paley proceeds to summarize the evolution of both the theories and the depiction of the Sublime, which were popu larized in the eighteenth century by the writings of Burke and the paintings of English artists such as John Robert Cozens. There is also a discussion of the historical development of two popular apocalyptic sublime subjects: the Deluge (linked to Poussin's famous painting) and Death On a Pale Horse (traced back to D?rer's masterpiece woodcut, The Four Horse

men of the Apocalypse). The subsequent chapters are concise, well-written, interesting essays, each devoted to an individual practitioner of the "apocalyptic sublime": Benjamin West, P.J. de Loutherbourg, William Blake, J.M.W. Turner, John Martin, Samuel Colman and Francis Danby.

The specificity of this book's subject excludes any mention of the many other British Romantic artists, such as Samuel Palmer, who also dealt with the subject of divine revelation. (Palmer's bucolic but neurotic landscapes are imbued with sublime overtones, but they are not of the "terror" variety and certainly are not apocalyptic.) The major weakness, or disappointment, with this book lies in this exclusion of other artists and other means of portraying divine revelation. Paley, a Blake scholar and professor of English, has written The Apocalyptic Sublime as a literary analysis. His interest lies in narrative qualities: the relationship between the artists' work and literature (generally the Bible). There is little or no stylistic analysis or aesthetic interpretation of the works discussed and reproduced.

Paley believes this art that depicts the apocalyptic sublime is peculiarly English, a "mode" that flourished in a particular place and time for which it was suited. "No such develop ment occurred outside England" due to "domestic unrest and foreign wars." This rather weak argument doesn't account for or explain the intense interest in the portrayal of divine reve lation throughout Europe, especially in Germany. Certain English artists may have been fond of apocalyptic subject matter, but our understanding of their art is not improved by ignoring the very closely related work of other Romantic art ists, both European and British. Any consideration of the sub lime in art, whether it be apocalyptic or otherwise, surely

must include the activity of all Romantic artists. For example, a discussion of Blake's apocalyptic sublime works should in clude the stylistic and philosophical relationship they have with those of Samuel Palmer and other artists. As well, one shouldn't pass over the work of German artists: the land scapes of Friederich and Runge are deeply involved with sub lime and divine experiences. Were their interests or intentions any different from those of the English artists?

Although less insightful than might be desired, The Apoc alyptic Sublime is still a pleasure to read. Beautifully printed, the text is also clear and intelligent and is handsomely illus trated with numerous black-and-white illustrations, which are of fairly good quality (excepting several of the Turner oils, which are reproduced quite poorly). It's unfortunate that there are only seven color plates.

The text and illustrations are fully indexed. The text is foot noted throughout, but there is no working bibliography and there is no general bibliography referring the reader to the body of literature dealing with the Sublime in art and litera ture or with British Romantic art. Lack of this information

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