Historic Antique ~1835 Philadelphia Thomas Cook & Richard Parkin Chair Furniture

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Seller: timber_blacksmith ✉️ (950) 100%, Location: Yorkville, Illinois, US, Ships to: US, Item: 335251412621 Historic Antique ~1835 Philadelphia Thomas Cook & Richard Parkin Chair Furniture. Watercolor on paper. 18 3/4" x 33 1/2". Only the most successful firms could afford to operate at that location. Plan of the City of Philadelphia, published by H. C. Cary and I. Lea, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1824. Historic Antique ~1835 Philadelphia Thomas Cook & Richard Parkin Chair Furniture 34" TALL 18 1/2" WIDE 20" TOTAL DEPTH 14.5" - 16" Seating Depth Very important documented Philadelphia Furniture Maker, outstanding example, with a very fine carved radius back rest, tapered post, carved crest, and very fine carved turned front legs. Fair to Good Condition, several condition things to report.  Fabric is pulling away and staples are seen along with the original antique nails.  Both front legs have a crack towards the top, one was glued to reinforce it at some point.  The back rest has one crack and board separation on the left side.  The back rest has a discoloration from possibly old sticker removal.  The ornate carving has a mark on it and there are numerous marks on the two front legs.  Staining on the seat cover. The chair feels sturdy when lifting from the back rest. Shipping is $135 OR LOCAL PICKUP YORKVILLE, IL Please see reference: The Chipstone Foundation https://chipstone.org/article.php/649/American-Furniture-2013/
  • Side chair attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Walnut and walnut veneer with tulip poplar. H. 32 1/4", W. 18", D. 18". (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 2

    View of Walnut Street between Third and Fourth Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1830–1840. Watercolor on paper. 18 3/4" x 33 1/2". (Courtesy, Library Company of Philadelphia .) Cook and Parkin’s shop is in the middle of the block on the left. John Hancock and Company occupied the building on the left corner. As was the case with Cook & Parkin, Hancock’s business was in the central business district. Only the most successful firms could afford to operate at that location.

  • Figure 3

    Joseph Drayton, Plan of the City of Philadelphia, published by H. C. Cary and I. Lea, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1824. Hand-colored engraving on paper. 15 1/2" x 17 194". (Courtesy, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.) This detail shows the central business district and the locations of businesses maintained by Cook & Parkin, Thomas Cook, and Richard Parkin.

  • Figure 4

    W. H. Rease, engraver, “George Mecke Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer,” published by Wagner and McGuigan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1846. Lithograph. 20" x 13". (Courtesy, Arader Galleries , Philadelphia.) This lithograph shows the shop of cabinetmaker George Mecke at 355 North Second Street. The building is a typical Philadelphia row house with a cabinet shop in the front. 

  • Figure 5

    A Shop Front in the Egyptian Style (Courtesy, Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.) The façade of Parkin’s shop may have resembled this storefront in the Egyptian style. In addition to a new façade, the redesign of Parkin’s shop opened the show room to the street, making it more inviting and conducive to display.

  • Figure 6

    Egyptian Hall, designed by Peter F. Robinson for George Bullock, Piccadilly, London, 1811–1812. (Courtesy, Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.)

  • Figure 7

    Sideboard bearing the label of Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1819–1824. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine, tulip poplar, and oak. H. 63 1/4", W. 98 1/2", D. 24 3/4". (Courtesy, Baltimore Museum of Art; purchase fund with exchange funds from gift from estate of Margaret Anna Abell, gift from Mr. and Mrs. Warren Wilbur Brown, gift of Jill and M. Austin Fine, bequest of Ethel Epstein Jacobs, gift of William M. Miller and Norville E. Miller II, Bequest of Leonce Rabillon: Bequest of Philip B. Perlman; and Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Louis E. Schecter, BMA 1989.26; photo by Mitro Hood.)

  • Figure 8

    Detail of the label on the sideboard illustrated in fig. 7.

  • Figure 9

    Design for a “large library or writing-table flanked with paper presses, or escrutoirs,” illustrated in pl. 11 in Thomas Hope, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (London, 1807). 

  • Figure 10

    Detail of a Pergamene capital on the sideboard illustrated in fig. 7.

  • Figure 11

    Photograph showing the dining room of the Anthony Wayne House, Easttown Township, Paoli, Pennsylvania, 1930–1940. The sideboard has later brass drawer pulls. 

  • Figure 12

    Pier table bearing the stenciled label of Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1825–1830. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine and tulip poplar; marble. H. 40 3/4", W. 47 3/4", D. 20". (Private collection; photo, Johnny Miller.) A molding with a cavetto frieze of similar profile is illustrated in pl. 1 in the Philadelphia Cabinet and Chair Makers’ Union Book of Prices (1828).

  • Figure 13

    Detail of the stenciled label on the pier table illustrated in fig. 12.

  • Figure 14

    Design for a table illustrated in pl. 12 in Thomas Hope, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (London, 1807).

  • Figure 15

    Detail of the pier table illustrated in fig. 12, showing the dovetails used to attach the pilasters to the bottom board.

  • Figure 16

    Detail of the pier table illustrated in fig. 12, showing the stepped miters of the boards above the frieze.

  • Figure 17

    Detail of the pier table illustrated in fig. 12, showing the construction of the base. 

  • Figure 18

    Pier table possibly by Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1824–1833. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with tulip poplar; marble. H. 38", W. 38", D. 20". (Courtesy, President James Buchanan’s Wheatland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; photo, Lancaster County Historical Society.)

  • Figure 19

    Center table bearing two stenciled labels of Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1824–1833. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine and ash; marble. H. 29", Diam. 38". (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.; photo, Richard Goodbody.)

  • Figure 20

    Design for table à thé illustrated in pl. 515 in Pierre de la Mésangère, Collection de meubles et objets de goût (Paris, 1821). (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.)

  • Figure 21

    Drum table attributed to Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1824–1833. Rosewood and rosewood veneer with unidentified secondary woods. Dimensions not recorded. (Allison Boor and Jonathan Boor, Philadelphia Empire Furniture [West Chester, Pa.: Boor Management, 2006], p.129).

  • Figure 22

    Photograph showing the second-floor parlor of the George Eveleigh House, 39 Church Street, Charleston, South Carolina, ca. 1927.

  • Figure 23

    Mechanical easy chair attributed to Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1824–1833. Mahogany with white pine. H. 46 1/2", W. 27 1/4", D. 29". (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 24

    Detail of the left arm of the mechanical easy chair illustrated in fig. 23.

  • Figure 25

    Detail of “Chairs with inclining backs” illustrated in pl. 10 in Thomas King, Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified (London, 1829).

  • Figure 26

    Detail of the crest of the mechanical easy chair illustrated in fig. 23.

  • Figure 27

    Detail of a sideboard table illustrated in pl. 45 in Thomas King, Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified (1829). (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.)

  • Figure 28

    Thomas Cook, extension dining table, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1836. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine and oak. H. 28 1/4", Diam. 85 1/2" (with large leaves). (Courtesy, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia.)

  • Figure 29

    Side chair, possibly Thomas Cook, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1830. Curly or figured maple. H. 33", W. 19", D. 22". (Courtesy, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia.)

  • Figure 30

    Design for a dining table in pl. 31 in Thomas Sheraton, Designs for Household Furniture (London, 1812).

  • Figure 31

    Design for a dining table in pl. 8 in Richard Brown, The Rudiments of Drawing Cabinet and Upholstery Furniture (London, 1820). (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.)

  • Figure 32

    Designs for “Supports for Sideboard Tables” illustrated in pl. 17 in the supplement of Thomas King, The Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified (London, 1829). (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.) The center design relates to the supports of the table illustrated in fig. 28.

  • Figure 33

    Richard Parkin, washstand, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1833–1840. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine; marble. H. 37", W. 26", D. 20 1/2". (Courtesy, Neal Auction Company, New Orleans, La.)

  • Figure 34

    Detail of the label on the washstand illustrated in fig. 33.

  • Figure 35

    Carter Hall, Millwood, Virginia, 1814. 

  • Figure 36

    Sofa bearing the stenciled label of Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1830. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with unidentified secondary woods. H. 35", W. 89", D. 24 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Bob Godwin, RGB Photography, Santa Fe.) 

  • Figure 37

    Wardrobe bearing the stenciled label of Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1827–1833. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with unidentified secondary woods. H. 84 1/2", W. 80 3/4", D. 23 1/4". (Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commision; photo, Richard Sexton.) This example has five stenciled labels. 

  • Figure 38

    Wardrobe attributed to Cook & Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1827–1833. Mahogany, mahogany veneer, maple, and maple veneer with white pine and tulip poplar. H. 87 1/2", W. 81 1/2", D. 23". (Courtesy, Charles and Rebekah Clark, Woodbury, Connecticut; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 39

    Bookcase attributed to Cook & Parkin or Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1825–1835. White pine; paint. H. 102", W. 71 3/4", D. 16 1/2". (Courtesy, Carlton Hobbs, LLC, New York.) Demilune panels like those on the cornice occur on other furniture attributed to Cook & Parkin (see figs. 37, 38). The beaded Romanesque panel of the base is a larger version of that on the door of the washstand illustrated in fig. 33. The pediment is virtually identical to that of the wardrobe illustrated in fig. 38, and both designs relate to the “large library or writing-table” shown in pl. 11 in Thomas Hope, Household Furniture (1807) (fig. 9). 

  • Figure 40

    Dressing table attributed to Cook & Parkin or Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1829–1835. Maple and maple veneer with unrecorded secondary woods. H. 67", W. 48", D. 21 1/2". (Courtesy, Gates Antiques, Ltd., Midlothian, Virginia.) The design of this object may have been inspired by “A Toilet” illustrated in pl. 92 of Thomas King, The Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified (1829). The demilune cutouts relate to the panels on the case pieces illustrated in figs. 37–39, and the large flat bosses on the mirror brackets are identical to those on the scrolls of the couch, chairs, occasional table, and sideboards illustrated in figs. 45, 51, 56, 59, and 60.

  • Figure 41

    Side chair from a set of at least eleven with one bearing the label of Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Mahogany, black walnut, and mahogany veneer with walnut. H. 32", W. 18", D. 18". (Landis Valley Farm Museum, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Elements of these chairs may have been inspired by designs in several pattern books, but the overall composition is original and unlike any published chair design. The form and crest rail relate to a chair illustrated in pl. 194 in Pierre de la Mésangère, Collection de muebles et objets de goût (Paris, 1805), and the legs relate to those on chairs shown in pl. 143 in George Smith, Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (London, 1828), and pl. 18 in Thomas King, The Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified (1829).

  • Figure 42

    Design for a library chair illustrated in pl. 7 in Richard Brown, The Rudiments of Drawing Cabinet and Upholstery Furniture (1820). (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin.) The chair on the left may have been inspired by a George Bullock design as indicated by the Wilkinson Tracings (fig. 43).

  • Figure 43

    Chair designs on p. 8 in “Tracings from Thomas Wilkinson from Designs of the late Mr. George Bullock, 1820.” (Courtesy, Birmingham Museums Trust.) Several sets of Philadelphia chairs have details similar to those depicted in these “tracings.” The example on the left of the second row has a back design that relates to those on chairs documented and attributed to Parkin.

  • Figure 44

    Drawing depicting the entrance to George Bullock’s Grecian Rooms at Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, 1812–1814. (Courtesy, Birmingham Museums Trust.)

  • Figure 45

    Armchair attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1833–1840. Rosewood and rosewood veneer with unrecorded secondary woods. Dimensions not recorded. (Private collection; photo, Johnny Miller.) This chair is one of three identical armchairs and six related chairs, including the example illustrated in fig. 51.

  • Figure 46

    Designs for “Drawing Room and Dining Room Gothic Chairs” illustrated in pl. 143 in George Smith, Guide (1828). (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin.) The chair on the left has legs similar to those on seating documented and attributed to Richard Parkin.

  • Figure 47

    Design for a “Drawing Room State Chair” illustrated in pl. 58 in George Smith, Household Furniture (London, 1808). (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin.)

  • Figure 48

    Side chair attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with ash. H. 33 1/8", W. 17 3/4", D. 21 1/2". (Courtesy, Phila­delphia Museum of Art; gift of Andrew Jones and George Celio, 1996.) 

  • Figure 49

    Side chair attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with tulip poplar. H. 33 1/2", W. 17 1/2", D. 21". (Courtesy, Yale University Art Gallery.)

  • Figure 50

    Side chair attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Mahogany, mahogany veneer, and walnut with white pine. H. 35 1/4", W. 18 1/4", D. 20 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 51

    Side chair attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Rosewood and rosewood veneer with ash. H. 35 1/4", W. 18 1/4", D. 20 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 52

    Side chair attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Rosewood and rosewood veneer with ash. H. 35 1/4", W. 18 1/4", D. 20 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) 

  • Figure 53

    Footstool from a pair bearing the label of Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Woods not identified. (William MacPherson Horner Jr., “Some Early Philadelphia Cabinetmakers,” Antiquarian 16, no. 3 [March 1931]: 76.) Parkin’s design is similar to that of a footstool illustrated in Rudolph Ackermann, The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, and Manufactures, ser. 1, vol. 10 (October 1813): 232, pl. 25. This publication was very influential, particularly in Philadelphia.

  • Figure 54

    Side chair, possibly from the shop of Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with ash. H. 33", W. 19", D. 20". (Courtesy, Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc.; photo, Richard Goodbody.) This chair is from a set of at least twelve seating forms. Its crest rail is related to that on the side chair illustrated in fig. 49, and its faceted legs are similar to those on the armchair illustrated in fig. 55.

  • Figure 55

    Armchairs attributed to the shop of Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1834–1840. Walnut and walnut veneer. Secondary woods not recorded. H. 35", W. 19 1/4", D. 16 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Johnny Miller.)

  • Figure 56

    Occasional table bearing the Egyptian Hall label of Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1835–1840. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine. H. 29 1/2", W. 44", D. 22". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 57

    Design for a table illustrated in pl. 12 in Thomas Hope, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807). This form is referred to as an “occasional table” in Peter Nicholson and Michael Angelo Nicholson, The Practical Cabinet Maker, Upholsterer and Complete Decorator (London, 1826), George Smith, Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1828), and Thomas King, The Modern Style of Cabinet Work Exemplified (1829). 

  • Figure 58

    Profile of an “Antique Seat of Parian Marble in a Chapel near Rome” in Charles Heathcote Tatham, Etchings Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architecture; Drawn from the Originals in Rome (London, 1799). Several published designs can be traced to this etching. 

  • Figure 59

    Sideboard attributed to Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1835. Rosewood and rosewood veneer with mahogany, white pine, tulip poplar, and cedrela; marble. H. 40 3/4", W. 60 1/4", D. 22". (Courtesy, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976-17-1.)

  • Figure 60

    Sideboard probably by Richard Parkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1835. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine; marble. H. 43", W. 60", D. 24". (Courtesy, Rosedown Plantation Historic Site, St. Francisville, Louisiana.) Made for Rosedown Plantation and invoiced by Anthony G. Quervelle, exhibiting distinctive flat bosses.

  • Figure 61

    David Bodensick, sofa table, Baltimore, Maryland, 1833. Mahogany and mahogany veneer with white pine and tulip poplar. H. 29 1/8", W. 57 3/4 (open)", D. 26". (Courtesy, Maryland Historical Society, 1990.3.) The table is inscribed, “Made by / David Bodensick From Baltimore / And Sold By Mr. Cook & Perkins / Philadelphia, PA.” 

Carswell Rush Berlin
"A Shadow of a Magnitude": The Furniture of Thomas Cook and Richard Parkin

The names of Thomas Cook and Richard Parkin are not typically listed alongside those of Anthony G. Quervelle, Joseph B. Barry, Michel Bouvier, and other renowned Philadelphia furniture makers of the classical period. Yet, at the time, that is precisely the company Cook and Parkin kept. Niles’ Weekly Register’s review of the Franklin Institute’s second annual exhibition of manufactures in 1825 listed “beautiful and otherwise remarkable specimens of manufacture” by the city’s leading cabinetmakers, including “White, Bouvier, . . . Quervyl [Quervelle], . . . [and] Cook and Parkins [sic].”[1 ]

The stenciled and printed trademark of Cook and Parkin’s firm and the printed label of Richard Parkin are found on some of the most avant-garde pieces of American classical furniture, but many unmarked objects of comparable importance have escaped the attention of scholars and collectors. Thanks to the recent discovery of a pair of side chairs, one of which is illustrated in figure 1, Parkin’s name can now be associated with seating in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery. These new findings have provided the impetus to reexamine the lives and work of Cook and Parkin, to raise questions about their training and design influences, and to return them to their former place in the firmament of Philadelphia’s nineteenth-century cabinetmaking community.

Richard Parkin was born in England circa 1787, died in Philadelphia on September 16, 1861, and was buried in the American Mechanics Cemetery on Islington Lane at Twenty-Seventh Street. Family tradition maintains that he emigrated from Sheffeld, England, and it is likely that he served his apprenticeship before coming to the United States. John and Hannah (Padley) Parkin of Sheffeld had a son named Richard in 1791, but no definitive connection between that family and the émigré cabinetmaker has been established. Similarly, a family of Parkins arrived in Philadelphia from Liverpool on the ship Lancaster in September 1819, but the passenger manifest does not mention anyone named Richard. The cabinetmaker’s absence in the 1810 and 1820 federal censuses suggests that he arrived shortly before his name began to appear in Philadelphia directories in partnership with Cook in 1819.[2 ]

On February 6, 1825, Parkin married Clara Stevens (1801–1875) in a civil ceremony performed by Philadelphia mayor Joseph Watson (1784–1841). Parkin may have had a business connection to Watson, who worked as a lumber merchant before taking office in 1824. Richard and Clara had six children. The eldest, Thomas, was born in Philadelphia in 1827, followed by Sarah, born in 1831, twins Clara (d. 1860) and Anna in 1833, Henry (d. 1885) in 1835, and Richard Jr. two years later. All three sons became cabinetmakers, but none of their work has been identified.[3 ]

Thomas Cook’s naturalization application, dated July 16, 1819, describes his trade as “cabinetmaker” and states that he was born in Yorkshire, England, on May 12, 1789, emigrated from London, and arrived in Philadelphia on April 29, 1817. His wife, Ann (ca. 1786–1871), also was born in England, and it is likely that they came to America together. Thomas was listed at 26 Bank Street in Dock Ward in the 1820 Philadelphia city directories. He and Ann had one child, a daughter, Mary (ca. 1823–187?). Cook retired from business at the age of forty-nine, younger than many of his contemporaries. He seems to have accumulated enough capital to invest in real estate, like his competitors Bouvier and Quervelle. Beginning circa 1835, Cook devoted his time to the acquisition of investment property and bought at least eight such lots. The 1860 U.S. census recorded his wealth at $10,000 and Parkin’s at $1,000, a disparity that might be explained by the number of children they each raised. Cook died on May 13, 1868, at seventy-nine, after thirty-one years as a “gentleman,” leaving his investments to his daughter, Mary Stellwagen, and the income from rents and dividends from securities to his wife for her lifetime. Two years after his death, the 1870 census valued his widow’s net worth at $15,000 and his daughter’s at $24,000.[4 ]

Cook & Parkin
Thomas Cook and Richard Parkin were among the first generation of English cabinetmakers born during the classical revival of the late eighteenth century. Their birth dates nearly coincided with the publication of George Hepplewhite’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788), the first broadly available design book in the classical taste, and their apprenticeships likely began just before the publication of Thomas Sheraton’s Cabinet Dictionary (1803). The latter book and Thomas Hope’s Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807) helped shift the focus of classical design from Robert Adam’s abstract interpretations of ancient designs to furniture based on archaeological models. As furniture historian Joseph Aronson suggests, pattern books also heralded the final step in an “evolution from cottage handicraft through the Factory System and the Industrial Revolution . . . the ultimate division of functions . . . aiming for greater output and efficiency to meet the demands of expanding markets and wealth.” During their apprenticeships, Cook and Parkin would have developed specialized hand skills while learning how to design furniture, create working drawings, and exploit the new industrialized systems of production. By the time they arrived in Philadelphia, both men were capable craftsmen with clear ideas about what furniture in the classical taste should look like and how it should be made.[5 ]

The Philadelphia directory listed Cook & Parkin first as “Chair Makers” at 26 Bank Street in 1819, then as “Cabinet Makers” at 56 Walnut Street from 1820 to 1833 (fig. 2 ). Cook also appeared alone, listed as a cabinetmaker at 4 Fromberger’s Court in Paxton’s Directory, in 1819, and in some directories he and Parkin were listed jointly as “Chair Makers” as late as 1824. In 1829, while maintaining a business at 56 Walnut Street, both men began working at separate addresses, Parkin at 94 South Third Street and Cook at 7 Pear Street. Four years later, they dissolved their partnership when Parkin moved to Egyptian Hall, a building at 134 South Second Street, leased from cabinetmaker Joseph Barry; Cook remained at 56 Walnut Street.[6 ]

Cook and Parkin’s separation in 1829 may have been an expedient way to gain production space while maintaining 56 Walnut Street as a showroom. Scholar Deborah Ducoff-Barone has noted that the central business district, which encompassed that area of Walnut Street, was a prestigious location and the epicenter of Philadelphia’s furniture making industry (fig. 3 ). Rents were high, and only the most successful and well-capitalized firms could afford to set up and maintain businesses there. All but two of the cabinetmaking enterprises mentioned in the October 15, 1825, issue of Niles’ Weekly Register were located within two blocks of Cook and Parkin’s Walnut Street address and Parkin’s shop on South Second Street (after 1833): Quervelle at 126 South Second Street (1825–1848), Bouvier at 91 South Second Street (1825–1844), Charles H. White at 109 Walnut Street (1815–1854), and John Jamison at 75 Dock Street (1815–1829). These shop masters understood that location was key to securing wealthy local patrons and attracting foreign buyers and entrepreneurs engaged in the coastal trade.[7 ]

Cook maintained a business at 56 Walnut until 1837, when he retired from the cabinetmaking trade. City directories referred to him as a “gentleman” until 1860, eight years before his death. Parkin’s forty-one-year career was even more extensive, among the longest of any Philadelphia cabinetmaker of the period. Similarly, Cook and Parkin’s fourteen-year partnership was longer than 90 percent of all cabinetmaking businesses recorded in Philadelphia between 1800 and 1840.[8 ]

In the absence of documentation, the size of Cook and Parkin’s manufacturing business can be extrapolated through comparison with other firms. Barry advertised “employment for six journeymen cabinetmakers” while working at 134 South Second Street, a building he subsequently leased to Joseph Aiken and then to Richard Parkin. While at that location, Aiken’s shop had “five turning lathes and a number of workbenches.” During Barry’s tenancy, 134 South Second Street was a shop and wareroom as well as a dwelling, but advertisements for the sale of Aiken’s stock in 1829 indicate that the space was entirely dedicated to selling furniture. It is reasonable to assume that the workforce and scope of Parkin’s business was larger than Barry’s and at least as large as Aiken’s, but smaller than that of Cook and Parkin.[9 ]

Maintaining a large business between 1819 and 1833 was a notable accomplishment for Cook & Parkin because that period was as difficult and unstable as the American cabinet trade had ever known. Their firm survived two major depressions, damage to the local economy caused by President Andrew Jackson’s struggle with the Second Bank of the United States, wild fluctuations in the price of mahogany, and worker strikes precipitated by two technological advancements—the introduction of the steam-powered lathe and the circular saw.

In 1826 confrontations between master cabinetmakers and journeymen forced a revision of piecework prices and, by extension, the cost to produce various furniture forms. Working with a three-man “Committee of Journeymen,” the “Committee of Employers,” composed of Parkin, White, and Jamison, issued a broadside detailing the “per centage upon start prices of jobs” in the 1826 reissuing of the 1811 Journeyman Cabinet and Chairmaker’s Pennsylvania Book of Prices. Parkin’s leadership position on the committee reflects his high stature as a cabinetmaker as well as Cook & Parkin’s importance as an employer of numerous journeymen.

Like many of Philadelphia’s most successful firms, Cook & Parkin consigned furniture to agents in southern cities and ports in the Caribbean and South America. Outbound coastal manifests for the port of Philadelphia beginning in 1823 recorded multiple shipments by the firm to Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Petersburg, Virginia; and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. As was the case with Cook & Parkin, cabinet- and chairmaking firms that exported furniture tended to be among the most long-lived in Philadelphia.[11 ]

  • Condition: Fair to Good Condition, several condition things to report. Fabric is pulling away and staples are seen along with the original antique nails. Both front legs have a crack towards the top, one was glued to reinforce it at some point. The back rest has one crack and board separation on the left side. The back rest has a discoloration from possibly old sticker removal. The ornate carving has a mark on it and there are numerous marks on the two front legs. Staining on the seat cover.
  • Size Type/Largest Dimension: 34" Tall
  • Type: Furniture
  • Signed: Unsigned
  • Color: Dark Wood Tone
  • Date of Creation: 1800-1899
  • Original/Reproduction: Original
  • Style: Americana
  • Material: Wood
  • Region of Origin: US-Northeast

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