The provinces of Upper and Lower Canada were created in 1791 by the Constitutional or Canada Act largely in response to the demands of United Empire Loyalists for a colony where English common law and land tenure would prevail and from which the code civil and seigniorial system would be excluded. With the creation of the new province of Upper Canada, the surveying of townships and organization of land grants continued with added vigour; and settlement patterns were laid for what was to become the centre of the Dominion. In 1841 Upper Canada ceased to exist as a separate province and the rejoined Canadas were also known as Canada East and Canada West. "Upper Canadian" furniture, as it is described here, is the furniture of the 50 years between 1791 and 1841. These were pioneer years and the furniture of the period bears distinctive qualities. With large settlements and more self-determination came both more sophisticated forms of government and more specialization in trade and manufacturing.
The furniture of Upper Canada was sturdy, attractive and of good quality despite the fact that it was made during the early pioneering years of the province. Settlers in the United States had adapted British and European styles to North American taste, and they passed on these new styles to Upper Canada. Throughout the entire period, western Upper Canada continued to be influenced by Pennsylvania while the eastern section leaned toward the state of New York. Direct British influence grew with increased immigration and easier communication, especially after 1830.
Although most Upper Canadian furniture was produced in the province, there were sufficient imports that we should consider their origin. Little furniture was imported from Europe except for the prized possessions of the very wealthy or the military and the lowly travelling chests which carried the belongings of almost all settlers. Some furniture was imported from neighbouring Lower Canada, particularly near the border; and there are records to prove that a few pieces, usually small articles such as chairs, were ordered by wealthy traders who dealt directly with Lower Canada. Most imports, however, came from the United States.
The study of Upper Canadian furniture divides quite logically into two distinct periods. The first encompasses the years between the end of the American Revolutionary War and 1815, a date which marks the end of both the American and Napoleonic wars. The second deals with the ensuing years until Upper Canada became Canada West. During the first period, the outside influence was almost entirely American. British immigration was negligible. Most people lacked knowledge of the possibilities of settlement; moreover, the British government was loathe to let them go and war made travel difficult. It has been estimated that only one in five Upper Canadians came directly from Europe before 1815. Furthermore the province was isolated geographically. Upper Canada was an inland province, cut off from Britain and the rest of Europe by the vast Atlantic Ocean as well as the Maritime provinces and Lower Canada. Conversely, it was separated from the United States by only the Great Lakes and their connecting rivers. Since early settlements were strung out along the lake shores and navigable rivers, and water was the usual means of transportation, it was easier to trade with the United States.
The settlement of Upper Canada did not begin in earnest until a place of refuge was needed after the American Revolution. Because the first settlers were fleeing Loyalists, they were able to bring little, if any, furniture with them, even though some of them had been accustomed to the very finest at home. Soldier-settlers who had been itinerant and had, of necessity, travelled as lightly as possible, did not bring furniture. These two groups were followed by Plain Folk including Quakers, Mennonites, Moravians and Dunkards. They were encouraged both by the vast quantity of good cheap land available and the friendly persuasion of Governor Simcoe who was quick to appreciate the value of such industrious settlers and who constitutionally guaranteed their right not to bear arms. Moreover, British rule was a known and acceptable quantity unlike the new American jurisdiction. Their refusal to fight during the American revolution had made them somewhat unpopular in the United States. Most Plain Folk, especially those who had to make the long and arduous trek through the mountain passes of Pennsylvania, knew better than to try to carry bulky furniture. Instead they made sure to include in their midst skilled craftsmen who could make new pieces for them when they arrived. Ambitious Yankees came singly or in groups. Some were land clearers who were mainly interested in accumulating capital by preparing the ground for less enterprising but more affluent settlers. Others, attracted by low-priced, abundant land came to homestead. Whatever their intention, Yankee settlers were known for their ability to "make out" under almost any circumstances and this versatility could even be turned to the making of furniture if the need arose.
Certainly all settlers needed furniture. Stout log chairs and beds made of boughs might be acceptable as a temporary expediency in the log shanty which usually served as home in the beginning. There are endless accounts of this first furniture in Settlers' Guides and in nostalgic reminiscences of pioneering days written by old settlers in their palmier days - but these makeshift articles were discarded as soon as something better could be procured. While it is interesting to read about them, there is little purpose in examining such crude pieces. They go with pioneering or camping-out ventures of any period and are not really representative of the furniture of Upper Canada.
There were cabinetmakers and joiners among the first settlers, the cabinetmaker being the most skilled, followed by the joiner. The finest pieces, those with inlay, beaded drawers, veneering and imported woods, would be made by cabinetmakers. A joiner was sufficiently skilful to make ordinary chairs and most plain furniture. A carpenter, too, could make simple furniture, but he was involved in many types of woodworking besides furniture making. Very little is known about the training of furniture makers during the Upper Canadian period. Many came from the United States and later from Britain, and these had apprentices although the length and organization of the apprenticeship was not standardized. Some cabinetmakers combined farming and furniture making; others, because their output included coffins, were also undertakers, a combination which persists in some Ontario towns. Many Upper Canadian woodworkers relied on local trade and did no advertising other than by word of mouth. Thus, the most important evidence needed to complete the documentation of Upper Canadian cabinetware is provided by the furniture which has survived.
The contents of a typical early Upper Canadian home reveal the principal articles of manufacture. The house, itself, was probably built of logs. If its owner was prosperous, the original small cabin was expanded to several rooms and sometimes dressed on the outside with wood siding. A large open hearth which provided the only cooking and heating facilities dominated the kitchen, often the principal room in the house. Activity centered around the long kitchen table with its painted legs and frame and its soft-wood top whitened and hardened by daily scrubbings. Seated on an assortment of slat-back and Windsor plank-seated chairs, family and friends prepared and ate their food, knitted, mended, whittled, or just visited. Against one wall stood a large, painted, open or closed-front dresser (cupboard) which contained dishes and food supplies. A simple pail bench, or later in some German-American settlers' homes, a dry-sink, and a small spinning wheel were likely to be found in the room. In a small cabin, the kitchen contained convertible space-savers such as a bench-bed or a chair-table. Larger houses had sleeping lofts containing low, under-eaves beds or bedrooms which featured beds made of thick posts and made "comfortable" by rope springs. Since these beds stood high off the floor, there was ample room under them for another space-saver, the trundle bed which could be rolled out on its wooden wheels when it was needed for children or company. A blanket or storage chest which doubled as a chair completed the picture. The master bedroom was either part of the parlour or next to it. If the family was sufficiently affluent or had access to a good cabinetmaker, a high-post bed fitted with curtains to keep out the drafts and to give privacy presided over the room. The rest of the furniture might include a tall clothespress containing both cupboard and drawer space, a small multi-purpose stand, a chair or two, and perhaps another blanket chest. The parlour, in addition to more splint-, rush-, or wood-seated chairs, was likely to have a sofa, small tables (perhaps one with drop leaves), stands, and sometimes even a desk.
Style
During the early years, most cabinet makers had very limited access to the world outside their settlement so they were forced to work in the styles that were familiar to them when they emigrated. Consequently there was a time-lag in Upper Canadian styles and it is quite common to find early nineteenth century furniture which might be mistaken for eighteenth century American pieces except for a few identifying features such as original hardware of a later period. Chippendale was the formal style most commonly used in case pieces of this period. The Upper Canadian version of it may be identified by bracket feet, inset quarter columns and lipped (over-lapping) drawers. Indeed, settlers and cabinetmakers of Pennsylvania origin were so fond of the Chippendale style that they continued to use it in a modified form until the 1870's. Walnut was the favourite wood for Chippendale, and the Pennsylvania German settlers usually had an abundance of it because they looked for walnut when choosing land. They knew that tall, wide-girthed walnut trees were an indication of the rich limestone soil which guaranteed good crops and successful homesteading.
North American versions of the classical designs of Hepplewhite and Sheraton which succeeded Chippendale in European furniture design were known by 1815, but usually only in either the most fashionable circles or in the eastern part of the province which had closer access to the United States. In fact, many of the earliest chests of drawers with Hepplewhite outflaring French feet or turned Sheraton legs were probably imported from there. Manifestations of these styles in Upper Canadian crafted furniture were table legs that were tapered (the true Hepplewhite leg is tapered only on the two inner sides) or turned in the Sheraton fashion.
Construction
Since the forests of Upper Canada had to be cleared for settlement, there was an infinite quantity and variety of wood. From very early in the province's history, mills with waterpowered vertical saws cut lumber. Boards of more than two feet in width could be selected for table tops, leaves, chests and headboards. The boards were smoothed with planes and in most of these pieces, unless they have been improperly refinished at some time, one can see and feel the undulating marks left by the plane.
Hardwoods and softwoods were used, alone or together. A good cabinet maker knew that both were preferable and even necessary in the construction of many types of furniture. Durable legs could only be made of hardwood. Plank seats, headboards, drawer interiors, and any piece that required shaping or fitting could be fashioned more easily from softwoods. Some woods had special qualities, such as hickory which could be bent to form the back of a Windsor chair. Cabinetmakers took advantage of the fact that wood shrinks as it ages to make firm joints in chairs. They inserted pre-shrunk rungs into holes bored in green wood posts which grabbed the rungs tightly as they shrank. They mortised slats into posts and secured them by wooden pins. Frames of doors and panel-sided chests were mortised and tenoned (a rectangular tongue inserted into a slot of corresponding size). Panels were tongue and grooved into the frames. Some chests and other case pieces were fastened together by dovetailing. Drawers were either rabbeted (a corner joint created by matching rectangular slots) or dovetailed. Treadle or single-blade lathes were used to turn legs and posts that were not of uniform shape and thickness since they had to be made one at a time.
Most cabinetmakers had the foresight to bring tools with them when they settled. They included such extras as sets of moulding planes. The handyman carpenter who lived in a remote location might be limited in his production by possessing only the usual farm tools. But if he were willing to make the trip to a town such as York, Kingston, or Newark he could buy imported tools if he had the means to do so. Brass hinges and drawer pulls from Britain and the United States were also available to those who could afford them, but most people had to be contented with blacksmith-made hinges and locks, and wooden, elongated, or mushroom-turned knobs.
Upper Canadian woodworkers used paint or fine and fancy hardwoods to decorate their furniture. Pieces whose construction required exposed surfaces of both hard and soft woods were painted black, brown, dark or grey-toned green and blue, red, and yellow ochre. So were soft-wood pieces, with the exception of kitchen table tops. Often the craftsman used two or more colours to simulate hardwood. Sometimes he would enliven the colours by finger-, candle-, or feather graining. In rarer instances, where time and skill permitted, he hand painted blanket chests with flowers, hearts, and other decorative motifs. Dower chests with names and dates were made for the daughters of Pennsylvania German settlers to store the linens and household items which they sewed, embroidered, and knitted, in anticipation of marriage and homes of their own.
Hardwoods were used for beauty as well as for strength. Contemporary writers favourably mentioned walnut, butternut (sometimes called white walnut), maple, and cherry. Fancy-grained woods such as bird's-eye or curled maple and flame cherry were most decorative. So was flame birch, although birch was less commonly used and seems to have been more popular in eastern Upper Canada. Although there are no written records, the furniture which is left to us indicates that these fancy-grained woods were used singly in most pieces made in Upper Canada prior to 1815 with the exception of a few pieces made in the classical styles which featured combinations of light and dark hardwoods as an important part of their decoration.
Changes in style
The situation changed greatly during Upper Canada's second furniture period which began after British wars ended and permitted more immigration from the British Isles. The demobilization of armies, the industrial revolution, and large-scale farming altered the lives of many and cast the New World in an increasingly desirable light. So did encouragement and passage money from relatives who had already homesteaded successfully. The growing affluence of many of the early settlers and the great number of new immigrants provided larger and more varied markets for the furniture-maker. Now he had a choice between making plain sturdy furniture for the multitude or directing his efforts to more intricate work. Better communication with the outside world made it easier to procure the latest American and European style books, special veneers, and all that was needed to create more costly and elaborate furniture.
Emboldened by this promising situation, many cabinetmakers decided to try their fortunes in Upper Canada. They came from Britain, the United States, and even from the Maritimes. It is quite possible that some came from Lower Canada as well. Their advanced training and fresh ideas provided stiff competition for native woodworkers. Undoubtedly, many continued to work as they had before; but there were some, especially young men, who rose to meet the challenge by serving their apprenticeships in the larger centres of the United States - the closest place where they could hope to achieve an equal level of sophistication, They came back better prepared to satisfy customers of all kinds.
To the classical revival styles of Hepplewhite and Sheraton, which were basically English, was added another one which derived from France. This French version which combined Greek, Roman, and Egyptian styles was called French Empire, and was admired widely in the United States where many things pertaining to France, including the Revolution, were held in high esteem. The decorative features that are found most often in Upper-Canadian furniture made in that style are acanthus or anthemion leaves, pineapples, winged or paw feet, and columns which support the upper drawers of case pieces. Upper Canada's Empire style derived mostly from American adaptations, but it was also influenced by recently arrived cabinet makers from Britain who knew the British interpretation of this style which was blended with early classical styles and called English Regency. Since Upper Canadians also combined these styles and added to them a strong dose of American Empire, surely it is proper to call the resulting mixture by a new name - Canadian Regency. Not only is it proper but safer, for most of this furniture was a mixture rather than a single style.
While basic construction remained the same during this second period, there were changes related to decoration. Very often classical revival styles were enhanced by a combination of light and dark woods. The English preference for mahogany and satinwood was translated into native walnut or cherry and curled maple. Mahogany, which had to be imported, was used as a veneer. Veneers, which were thin slices of wood glued to a soft-wood backing, made it possible to have matching figured panels. Although most veneer is almost paper thin, a few of the early examples were as much as a quarter of an inch thick. Some inlay and carving were done. Drawers often featured beaded edges and inset keyhole escutcheons of bone or wood. More brass hardware and pressed glass pulls were imported from the United States and from England.
As the period advanced, differences increased between town and country furniture. Well-trained cabinetmakers from the old country or the United States were more likely to end up working in the towns where there was a greater market for fine pieces. As they became prosperous, they hired apprentices and set up cabinet shops. They offered both furniture "on hand" and "to order". In the country, most furniture had to be ordered and was often made from special timber provided by the customer from his farm. Sometimes, payment for furniture was made in wood, for cabinet makers were always advertising for hardwoods, plain and fancy-grained.
Despite the great progress in the furniture trade in the last two decades of the Upper Canadian period, the United States still provided formidable competition. Cabinet makers aired their complaints in the newspapers and in 1830 and 1831 even went so far as to petition the House of Assembly for protection from American furniture and lumber. Although they failed to obtain government help, the cabinet shops continued to grow as the population expanded. The 1840's which mark the end of our period heralded the new Victorian age when steam power would bring startling changes to the styles and construction of Upper Canadian Furniture.
