"Possessing extraordinary woodworking skills and a refined sense of design, Gould created works that rank among the finest produced in 18th-century New England," says Dean Lahikainen, PEM's Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Art. "This jewellike exhibition celebrates the best of Gould's furniture in a format that invites contextual exploration and rewards close looking."
Above, from the Peabody Essex Collection: Josh Simpson, glass artist, Mega Megaplanet glass globe, 1999. Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, United States, dia.: 11 in (dia.: 27.9 cm). Museum purchase, 1999
Gould's work is distinguished by its careful attention to graining, distinctive carved ball-and-claw feet, extended knee returns and superbly carved pinwheels and scallop seashells. Clients could choose from a range of design forms, including desks and chests of drawers, tables, chairs, beds and miscellaneous pieces, such as cradles, coffins and fire screens. Gould built his career on his ability to translate London's latest designs sometimes gleaned from British pattern books, including Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Makers Director into a more conservative style that pleased the tastes of the region's wealthy elite.
The Gould ledgers reveal a high percentage of domestic furniture produced to fill wedding orders, mostly from members of the merchant class. Within a highly competitive social environment, newlywed couples aspired (as they do today) to own status symbols that communicated the family's wealth and social position.
At the time, Salem was the hub of coastal trade and, as the ever-wise businessman, Gould saw opportunity. His ledgers reveal 616 pieces of furniture that were sold in the Caribbean and of this inventory, 62 percent were desks, half of which were made of cedar — an aromatic wood prized for its ability to deter insects in the semitropical regions. Gould's participation in the export business also allowed him to become Salem's principal importer of cedar and mahogany logs and allowed him to reserve the best pieces for his own magnificent workshop.
Until the discovery of Nathaniel Gould’s 18th century account books at the Massachusetts Historical Society in 2009, many of his pieces were mis-attributed, or listed as "unknown cabinetmaker, Salem." Now, over 20 pieces have been firmly attributed to Gould's shop.
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is also presenting exhibition celebrating the beauty and sensuality of wood art. International in scope and diverse in form, Audacious: The Fine Art of Wood from the Montalto Bohlen Collection showcases one of the world's finest contemporary wood art collections with more than 100 singular works. With alluring surfaces and textures made from familiar and exotic woods, the pieces featured in Audacious are as surprising as they are beautiful. Some are recognizable as vessels, bowls and vases while others are completely abstract, emphasizing form over function. The exhibition — on view to June 21, 2015 — coincides with Bob and Lillian Montalto Bohlen's donation of 47 works of contemporary wood art to PEM, which enhances the museum's prestigious collection of American decorative art.
David Ellsworth, Intersphere, 1991, from the Solstice Series, burned ash and pigment. Gift of Lillian Montalto Bohlen. Photo by Dirk Bakker
Through the use of lathes, turning, carving, painting, even blowtorches and chainsaws, the featured artists push the boundaries of the medium while taking into consideration the unique characteristics of wood grain, tone, color and texture. Sourcing a wide variety of wood from around the globe, these artists create with materials such as quilted maple, ponderosa pine, blue mahoe, European boxwood, Honduran rosewood, chakte kok, tulipwood, coconut palm, buckeye burl, packberry, pearwood, locust and pistachio root. Ever mindful of conservation concerns, many of the artists exclusively use downed and damaged trees. In some of the pieces, foreign materials are introduced such as pigment, inlay, gilding, even ground-up comic books and deer antler.
This six-part exhibition explores complex forms and techniques while spotlighting how artists use contrast, texture, color and pattern to develop technically sophisticated compositions. While some works emphasize wood's natural characteristics, others explore trompe l'oeil and elaborate surface embellishment, such as Hawks and Owls created by Saskatchewan artists Frank Sudol and Cam Merkle in 2000 (pictured above). Using only birch wood and acrylic paint, the artists have created a delicate, gravity-defying sculpture of carved feathers with positive and negative spaces that loosely echo the shape of a vase.
Audacious also celebrates how contemporary wood artists integrate storytelling and personal narrative into their work. Binh Pho's 2009 carved and painted box elder vase Seven Poppies is (see right) layered in symbolic narrative. As Pho explains: "the dragonfly represents the military helicopters of my childhood in Vietnam ... the peacock feather represents the dream, poppies speak of mystery and clouds represent change. When people become familiar with my stories — whether autobiographical or fictional — they understand my works and what I seek to share."
Binh Pho, Seven Poppies, 2009. Photos by Terry Martin Via PEM
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