Tennessee Furniture

"Tennessee Furniture: Selections from the State Museum Collection" celebrates the Tennessee State Museum’s vast collection, inviting you to discover what Tennessee furniture, from the historic to the contemporary, has to say for new generations. Whether constructed from native woods or imported materials, Tennessee furniture tells the story of our state. Learn more about this exhibition, opening April 20, 2024: https://tnmuseum.org/tnfurniture

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Tennessee State Museum

an antique chest of drawers on display in a room with white walls and wooden furniture

Chest of Drawers by John E. Rose, 1824

Signed and dated in 1824, this chest of drawers dates to a time when John Erhart Rose was working in the shop of John Lonas in Knoxville. Extensive ornamentation spanning multiple decorative styles makes this an exceptional work. By the 1820s, Knoxville, which had recently been the Tennessee state capital, had enough wealthy patrons desiring fashionable pieces to support skilled cabinetmakers like Rose.

an old wooden cabinet with drawers on display

Samuel S. Holding Sideboard, (1820–1830)

Though early Tennessee furniture is rarely signed, Samuel Holding wrote his name along with the piece’s original sale price of $110 on the underside of this sideboard’s top (1820–1830). To create this sideboard, now on display in #TNFurniture, Holding needed great skill and access to materials. In 1824, he advertised seeking “cherry plank,” which could have been locally harvested and milled.

an ornate wooden clock on display in a museum

African American Culture

First Peoples

Gothic Revival

Museum Store

Bishop’s Chair from Christ Church, 1880–1900, by Melchior Thoni

Woodcarver Melchior Thoni is best known for his role in the creation of the altar and woodwork at Nashville’s Christ Church Cathedral, including this Bishop’s chair on display in #TNFurniture at the Tennessee State Museum. Completed in 1894, the Church hired Thoni, who worked for the Edgefield & Nashville Manufacturing Company, for the building’s woodwork. At nearly 13 feet tall, the chair is both massive in scale and masterfully delicate in detail, featuring Gothic Revival motifs.

an old wooden grandfather clock on display in a room with green walls and arched doorways

Gothic Revival Furniture

Girl Scout Patches

Bishop’s Chair from Christ Church, 1880–1900

Woodcarver Melchior Thoni is best known for his role in the creation of the altar and woodwork at Nashville’s Christ Church Cathedral, including this Bishop’s chair on display in #TNFurniture. Completed in 1894, the Church hired Thoni, who worked for the Edgefield & Nashville Manufacturing Company, for the building’s woodwork. At nearly 13 feet tall, the chair is both massive in scale and masterfully delicate in detail, featuring Gothic Revival motifs.

an old wooden chest sitting on top of a white floor

Clothes Lines

National Photography

Clothes Line

Tennessee Quilting Chest, 1940–1950

Historically, textiles were among the most valuable objects in the home. Specific furniture forms were developed to display and protect them. In the mid-1900s, this quilt box was made for Black quilter Lucy Mae Smith, a housekeeper and midwife from Shoaf’s Island in Lauderdale County. On a visit to the mainland, she was inspired by quilts she saw hanging on clothes lines. Smith used this painted yellow pine box to hold fabric scraps for her quilting.

a wooden chair with a woven seat pad on it's backrest, against a white wall

Oak Corner Chair from East Tennessee, 1875–1900

The Malone Family produced chairs like this oak corner chair (1875–1900) for generations in northeast Tennessee. Notice the "Malone" stamped on the back slat. The Malones harvested wood from the Reedy Creek area near their home in Johnson County and milled the lumber on their sawmill. Most of the chairs the Malones produced were simple side chairs with or without rockers. Although corner chairs were less common for the shop, the form is documented in northwest Tennessee and southwest Virginia.

an old wooden dresser with wheels on the front and drawers inlayed to it's sides

Ornamental Painting

Tulip Poplar

Tulip Poplar Chest, 1840-1860

In early Tennessee, many furniture makers created pieces that were more beautiful than was necessary for their function. Ornamental painting covers the surface of this chest from Putnam County (1840-1860), transforming inexpensive woods into a work of art. Furniture pieces in this style, popular through the mid-1800s, were sometimes decorated not by professional artisans but by people interested in beautifying their homes. See this chest on display at the Museum in the #TNFurniture exhibition.

a wooden table with an open drawer on it and a rocking chair in the background

"The Writing Table" by Wendy Maruyama

"The Writing Table" by Wendy Maruyama combines traditional furniture elements with contemporary sculpture ideas. Wendy Maruyama is a third generation Japanese-American artist born in 1952 in La Junta, CA. An innovative furniture maker and woodworker, Maruyama was an artist in residence at the Appalachian Center for Craft between 1980 and 1985 in Smithville, Tennessee. See it on display in "Tennessee Furniture: Selections from the State Museum Collection."

two women looking at furniture on display in a room with white walls and carpeted flooring

Understanding Women

Tennessee Furniture: Selections from the State Museum Collection Now Open

Once overlooked in decorative arts scholarship, Tennessee has produced fascinating furniture as a cultural crossroads. Surviving works enrich our understanding of the state and the people who built it—including those whose stories were omitted from written records. "Tennessee Furniture: Selections from the State Museum Collection" is now on display, reflecting on where scholarship has been and is going.

a woman standing in front of a table with books on it and an open book

Celebrities

Nashville

University Of Victoria

University Of Delaware

Lee Curtis

Young Professional

Tennessee Furniture Now Open

Congratulations to Eleanor Shippen, a Tennessee State Museum curatorial assistant! Eleanor is a recipient of the Dewey Lee Curtis Symposium Scholarship from the Decorative Arts Trust, which enables graduate students and young professionals to attend their biannual symposia. This year, the spring symposium took place in Nashville, and attendees visited our newly-opened #TNFurniture exhibition.

there is a sign that says tennessee furniture on the wall and two chairs in front of it

Public Records

April 20

Tennessee Furniture Opens April 20, 2024

Opening this Saturday, April 20! "Tennessee Furniture: Selections from the State Museum Collection" starts tomorrow with FREE admission. We invite you to discover what Tennessee furniture, from the historic to the contemporary, has to say for new generations. Learn more about this exhibition at the link. #TNFurniture

an old fashioned wooden desk with drawers on the top and bottom drawer open to show what's inside

Exhibition Opening

April 2024

Cabinet Makers

What makes Tennessee furniture “Tennessee?”

What makes Tennessee furniture “Tennessee?” This question, at the heart of a new exhibition opening at the Tennessee State Museum on April 20, 2024, seeks to inspire new conversations and appreciation for the Museum’s vast furniture collection. The group of objects exhibited in "Tennessee Furniture: Selections from the State Museum Collection" is wide-ranging and diverse. On our blog, Candice Roland Candeto takes us through the variety of approaches used to learn from and connect with furniture.

the cover of tennessee furniture selections from the state museum collection, open apr 20 - 29

Nashville Museums

Furniture Exhibition

Tennessee Furniture Exhibition Opens April 2024

Coming soon! "Tennessee Furniture: Selections from the State Museum Collection" celebrates the Tennessee State Museum’s vast collection, inviting you to discover what Tennessee furniture, from the historic to the contemporary, has to say for new generations. Whether constructed from native woods or imported materials, Tennessee furniture tells the story of our state. This exhibition opens April 20, 2024 at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.