Benjamin Randolph (17211791) was an 18th-century American cabinetmaker who made furniture in the Queen Anne and Philadelphia Chippendale styles. He made the lap desk on which

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

drafted the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

Biography

He was born in

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north ...

. His family, originally named Fitz-Randolph, were

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

who fled religious persecution in New England and settled in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He may have apprenticed under the cabinet-joiner John Jones, from whom he rented lodgings. He married Anna Bromwich on February 18, 1762 at St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia, and they had two daughters, Mary and Anna. An inheritance of his wife's enabled them to buy property, and an investment in a

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

may have provided the capital for him to set up his own cabinetry shop in 1764.''Philadelphia: Three Centuries''. His business of supplying lumber and making windows and architectural carvings expanded in 1767, when he bought a shop on Chestnut Street and advertised himself as a "cabinetmaker." The London-trained carvers Hercules Courtenay and John Pollard were part of this shop; as were joiners or apprentices Benjamin Kendall, Joseph Alston, Peter Lasley, John Hanlin and John Maggs. The account book also lists a number of rented enslaved Africans. Beginning in 1769, furniture by Randolph bore the label:

''All Sorts of CABINET- AND CHAIR-WORK MADE and SOLD by BENJN. RANDOLPH, AT the Sign of the Golden Ball, in Chestnut-Street, PHILADELPHIA.''

He had a number of prominent clients, including

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13, O.S. November 2">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. November 21732Various sources indicate a birth date of November 8, 12 or 13, but his most recent biographer ...

, Captain John Macpherson (owner of the mansion "Mount Pleasant"), Michael Gratz, and Samuel Rowland Fisher. He joined fellow cabinetmaker Thomas Affleck in the major commission to make furniture for John Cadwalader's Philadelphia city house. Among those who rented lodgings from him were George and Martha Washington, and

Peyton Randolph Peyton Randolph (September 10, 1721 – October 22, 1775) was an American politician and planter who was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States. Born into Virginia's Randolph family of Virginia, wealthies ...

(no relation).

rented lodgings in 1775 when a delegate to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

. He later described the lap desk made for him by Randolph:

"It was made from a drawing of my own, by Ben. Randall'' ic''a cabinetmaker in whose house I took my first lodgings on my arrival in Philadelphia in May 1776. And I have used it ever since."

Early in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Randolph provided crates for the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

. He later closed his shop and joined the war effort. He put his shop and tools up for sale in 1778, in preparation for retirement. He married Mary Wilkinson Fennimore, and retired to his property in

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the South Jersey region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by land area in New Jersey and ranks second behind neighboring Ocean County in total area. Its county seat is Mount Holly.< ...

. He died in December 1791, and was buried in the burial ground at St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia.

Sample chairs

In a 1927 article in ''The Magazine Antiques'', dealer Samuel W. Woodhouse, Jr. identified six spectacularly-carved Philadelphia "sample chairs," each different and thought to be unique. One had descended through Randolph's family with a history of his having made it, and Woodhouse attributed all six to Randolph. Another of the sample chairs matched the chair shown in

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American painter, military officer, scientist, and naturalist. In 1775, inspired by the American Revolution, Peale moved from his native Maryland to Philadelphia, where he set ...

's ''Portrait of Lambert Cadwalader'' (1771). There continues to be debate over whether the sample chairs should be attributed to Randolph or Affleck. Five additional hairy-paw-foot side chairs from the Cadwalader set were found in Ireland in 1973. These are presumed to have been owned by Dr. Charles E. Cadwalader, John Cadwalader's great-grandson, who permanently moved from Philadelphia to England in 1904. A seventh chair from the set was found in Italy in 1982. The

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

attributes its Cadwalader chair to Randolph. The

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

attributes its Cadwalader chair to Thomas Affleck.

Examples of his work

*Armchair and six side chairs (-1770, walnut, attributed to Randolph),

Diplomatic Reception Room The Diplomatic Reception Room is one of three oval rooms in the Executive Residence of the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. It is located on the ground floor and is used as an entrance from the South Lawn ...

, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. Made for Vincent Loockerman of Dover, Delaware. *Set of two armchairs and six side chairs made for William Corbit of

Odessa, Delaware Odessa is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 364 at the 2010 census. Founded as Cantwell's Bridge in the 18th century, the name was changed in the 19th century, after the Ukrainian port city of the same name ...

(the dates below are each museum's): **Pair of side chairs (–1775, mahogany, both with Randolph labels), M. and M. Karolik Collection,

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

. **Side chair (–1780, mahogany, with Randolph label), Mabel Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. **Armchair and side chair (-1780, mahogany), Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware. **Armchair and two side chairs (-1775, mahogany, one side chair with Randolph label), private collection. *Desk-and-bookcase (1765, mahogany). Made for George Vaughn. *Card table (1765–1775, mahogany, with Randolph label), Winterthur Museum. *Easy chair (1765–1775, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Carving attributed to John Pollard. One of the six "sample chairs" identified by Samuel W. Woodhouse, Jr. in 1927. *Scalloped-top card table (, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), sold at Christie's NY, 25 January 2010. *Set of (at least 12) hairy-paw-foot side chairs made for John and Elizabeth Cadwalader, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: **Hairy-paw-foot side chair (, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), Chipstone Foundation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Number I of the set. Found in Italy in 1982. Auctioned at Christie's NY, 14 October 1999, realized $1,432,500. **Hairy-paw-foot side chair (, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), Winterthur Museum. Number II of the set. One of the six "sample chairs" identified by Samuel W. Woodhouse, Jr. in 1927. **Hairy-paw-foot side chair (, mahogany, attributed to Thomas Affleck), Metropolitan Museum of Art. Number VII of the set. Found in Ireland in 1973. **Hairy-paw-foot side chair (, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Number VIII of the set. Found in Ireland in 1973. **Pair of hairy-paw-foot side chair (, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), George M. & Linda H. Kaufman collection, Norfolk, Virginia. Numbers VIIII and X of the set. Found in Ireland in 1973. Promised gift to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

. **Hairy-paw-foot side chair (, mahogany, attributed to Randolph),

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...

, Virginia. Number XI of the set. Found in Ireland in 1973. *Hairy-paw-foot card table (1770, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Made for John and Elizabeth Cadwalader. *Hairy-paw-foot side chair (1770, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Made for John and Elizabeth Cadwalader. *Tea table (1774, mahogany, attributed to Randolph), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Made for Vincent Loockerman of Dover, Delaware.

Eakins

Chippendale chairs attributed to Randolph appear in the painting '' William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River'' (1876–77) by

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

, and several other works by the artist. The chairs were lent to Eakins by his friend Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell.David Sellin, ''Thomas Eakins and His Fellow Artists at the Philadelphia Sketch Club'' (Philadelphia Sketch Club, 2001). File:Thomas Eakins, American - William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River - Google Art Project.jpg, '' William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River'' (1876–77), by Thomas Eakins. File:Seventy-Years-Ago-(1877)-Eakins.jpg, ''Seventy Years Ago'' (1877), by Thomas Eakins. Also known as "Aunt Sallie in Dr. M.'s Chair." File:Knitting G505.jpg, ''Knitting'' (1882–83), by

Notes

*"Benjamin Randolph," ''Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art'', (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976), pp. 110–11.

References