Masterpieces of American Furniture, Winter 2005 The Hunt
A new furniture collection rivals one commissioned 200 years ago, by Paige Howard
When Kendl Monn, co-owner of Irion Furniture Makers in Christiana, received an order for a West Chester client’s dining room, he didn’t dream it would turn into one of the largest private furniture-making commissions since the late 18th century. That was when Revolutionary war hero John Cadwalader hired leading local cabinetmakers to furnish his Philadelphia townhouse. “After making a sideboard, a table and chairs for the client’s dining room, he said go find me ‘the best of the best’ for the rest of the house,” says Monn.
Copies of masterpieces from the greatest collections of American furniture were selected for this commission, including rare gems from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Winterthur, and the Yale University Art Gallery.
Colonial furniture maker equivalents to Rembrandt and Renoir, including Philadelphia cabinetmaker Thomas Affleck, Newport’s John Townsend and New York’s William Whitehead, are all represented, as are the best examples from the Queen Anne, Chippendale and Federal periods.
It is no surprise that Irion was selected for this commission. Celebrating its 65th anniversary, Irion is one of the oldest and best 18-th century reproduction cabinetry shops in the country. The shop mantra is “every piece must be built right.” Kendl Monn speaks with the pride of a craftsman when he says, “Every piece is built like it was then, and with passion.”
Irion’s roots in the business started with conserving and restoring antiques (which they still do). Today, clients come to them with orders spanning the entire range of 18th-century American furniture from the simplest candle stand to a reproduction of a family heirloom to this collection of “masterpieces.” Irion’s passion for period furniture is why people often mistake the company’s reproductions for the real thing.
Each piece is custom made to order from the exquisite woods the company uses. Dovetailed drawers, hand-carved embellishments and a time-consuming single-cabinetmaker-per-piece process produce furniture mirroring that made in Colonial times. Knowledge from decades in the business has been passed down from cabinetmaker to cabinetmaker. Their handwork is what makes you marvel at a hand-carved shell on the crest rail of a Chippendale chair or at the luminous hand-rubbed finish on a tiger-maple highboy.
Louis Irion, II founded Irion in the 1940s and was a pioneer in the renewed American art form of handmade furniture. Louis “Bert” Irion, III continued the family tradition growing the shop’s reputation among museum curators, collectors, and antique dealers as one of the best in the business. Bert turned over the reins to his chief cabinetmaker Kendl Monn and co-partner Richard Herzog, but is still involved in Irion as the wood source. “Bert has some of the best contacts for wood in the business. He is known to meet shipments at the dock and get first pick of the best woods,” says Monn.
Irion’s new commission of masterpiece was inspired after Monn took his client on several visits to Winterthur. “Winterthur’s collection really opened his eyes to what period rooms were all about. Winterthur is a Mecca-it’s all there. That what did it. He left saying, “I want my house to look like that,” explains Monn.
The showcase for this impressive collection is a rambling fieldstone estate in Chester County. Custom paneling and millwork provide the backdrop. Irion designed the period room settings in partnership with their sister company Richard Herzog Upholsterers. “The difference between interior design shops and us is that we have all the craftspeople practicing these age-old arts ‘in-house’ – cabinetmakers, upholsterers and seamstresses. We make it all and can design period rooms from the drapes to the furnishings.” Says Herzog.
The Port Royal Parlor at Winterthur inspired the interior design of the living room, with its symmetrical layout of matching Philadelphia camelback sofas. Ivory damask drapes provide an elegant contrast to the furniture, which includes a Philadelphia high chest and matching dressing table (Yale University Art Gallery), tall case clock (State Department Collection), Philadelphia pie crust table, Newport kneehole desk and Charleston breakfront and wing chairs.
Herzog also works with various antique dealers to find the perfect finishing touches for a room. Herzog points out the rare carpet, a Serapi, he found for the dining room. “Serpais go best with American furniture-they have rich, old colors.”
The 18 dining room chairs are reproductions of one of the great chairs of all time – the original, made by Thomas Affleck, is at Winterthur. The dining room also has a Federal pedestal table (Winterthur), a Garven Collection card table (Yale), a William Whitehead sideboard and a Simon Willard tall case clock. Three years later Irion is still making furniture for the house. Some pieces, like the Charleston breakfront that will go in the entrance hall, take nearly two years to complete.
A recent visit to the shop, housed in a three-story brick Victorian era hardware store, finds it bustling with activity. Kendl Monn is showing me around to see several of the works in progress. We pause to admire the Charleston breakfront. “This is one of the finest breakfronts ever made-the original is in the Charleston Museum,” says Monn as he points out the crotch mahogany drawers, elaborate inlaid woods and refined carving.
Another piece we see is a famous high chest of drawers known as the “Madame Pompadour” – so called for the French central bust that adorns its top. The original is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is considered to be one of the best examples of American furniture in the Chippendale style. Intricate sketches of the elaborately carved apron and corner columns sit on a nearby desk.
Each piece begins with visits to the museum to study the original and make sketches. The work continues in earnest at the shop where exact scale drawings are made. The drawings are then transferred onto carefully matched pieces of wood and the carving begins. Several trips back to see the original are often necessary to refine details once construction of a piece begins.
As with the best of fine art, the original masterpieces of American Furniture sell at auction routinely for seven figures.