E Newell

A Berkshire County Craftsman and His Contemporaries: The Newell Family

June 2016 issue of Maine Antique Digest

by Anthony J. Archambault

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Excerpts relate to a highboy chest from the Ebenezer Newell shop in Lanesborough, MA ...

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..."That same year (2013) at the Antiques Dealers’ Association of America/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show, dealer Jeffrey Tillou of Litchfield, Connecticut, was selling a closed bonnet-top highboy (fig. 1). I took interest in its whimsical Connecticut River valley-like design. When I began investigating the highboy, I was surprised when I found an inscription saying that it was made in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, which is in Berkshire County. The piece was attributed to the Connecticut River valley and not to Berkshire County. This prompted me to further investigate cabinetmakers and joiners in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where I discovered a possible family of craftsmen."

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..."Ebenezer Newell

Ebenezer Newell was born around 1747. There are no existing records indicating where he was born or from whom he learned his cabinetry skills."

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..."During the Revolutionary War Newell led a company of the Massachusetts Second Regiment, which was involved in the Battle of Bennington." ​... After returning home to Lanesborough with the rank of captain, Newell became heavily involved in town politics and served on the Committee of Safety."

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..."According to Massachusetts probate court records, Asahel Jarvis arrived in Berkshire County from New Britain, Connecticut, in 1787. ... According to Winterthur Museum’s database of Delaware craftsmen, records show that Jarvis was living in Lanesborough in 1789 and apprenticed in Captain Ebenezer Newell’s shop until 1790."

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..."Investigating the writing in the highboy that was sold through Jeffrey Tillou’s antiques shop shows the possibility that Newell and Jarvis worked on this piece together. Although there is no supporting evidence to this theory other than the signed highboy, it is very possible that Ebenezer Newell learned his trade in or around the Connecticut River valley."

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​We can develop a starting point investigating Captain Ebenezer’s highboy and where he may have learned his craft. Beginning at the top at the closed bonnet top, it has three whimsically turned finials with an urn-shaped bottom and pinwheel rosettes meeting in the middle (fig. 2). The top center drawer has a beautifully carved pinwheel design matching the rosettes above. Newell’s piece is primarily constructed of cherrywood, using white pine as a secondary wood making up the drawers. Craftsmen in the Connecticut River valley commonly used cherrywood and white pine. They incorporated the same whimsical and scalloped designs. The base of the Newell highboy is similar to examples found in the valley, having a similar scallop-design skirt (fig. 3). Opening the drawer reveals a graphite inscription that reads “February 1789, Lansborough, in the shop of Capt. Newal.”"

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​..."Five years after the departure of Asahel Jarvis, on September 21, 1795, an advertisement was placed by Aaron Newell in Andrews’s Western Star newspaper, out of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It stated, “Wanted immediately, a Journeyman Joiner, for the ensuing Fall, to whom generous wages will be given, by Aaron Newell. Enquire at Capt. Ebenezer Newell’s, near Lanesborough Meeting-house (fig. 4).”6 This appears to be the first time that both Captain Ebenezer Newell and Aaron Newell are associated with owning cabinetmaking shops.

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​​..."Although Captain Newell was a well-respected townsman, master craftsman, and Revolutionary War officer, there is no further information pertaining to his life. Beyond the 1795 advertisement, the only other time Captain Newell is mentioned in Berkshire County area newspapers is in his obituary published in 1808."

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For reference: The remainder of the article relates to Aaron Newell.

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..."Conclusion

Uncovering the history of Captain Ebenezer Newell and the work that both he and his apprentice accomplished gives an interesting perspective into where Ebenezer Newell may have learned his trade. John T. Kirk stated in a 1965 article for Antiques, “…it is apparent that the American craftsmen did not attempt to depart entirely from their traditions…. While they did not create something wholly new, they drew upon their heritage to create something distinctive, and to that extent original.”13

 

..."Aaron Newell’s work remains a mystery; nevertheless, uncovering the work of both of these men indicates that there may be a lineage of craftsmen. The general history of cabinetmaking, as well as the craftsmen of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, remains to be studied further."

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