Gaming table, 1815-1820, attributed to Thomas Seymour,
Boston. Mahogany, maple, chestnut, marble and brass. Once owned
by Hirschl & Adler Galleries, the table is now in the
collection of Nancy W. Priest.
The Furniture Masterworks of John and Thomas Seymour
By Laura Beach
SALEM, MASS. - In the Oval Office of the White House stands a
tall clock that only a handful of the world's most powerful
people will ever see. Richly veneered with figured birch and
mahogany, the gleaming case was most likely made by John Seymour
(1738-1818) and his son, Thomas (1771-1849), two English-born
cabinetmakers who arrived in Portland, Maine, in 1784, but
achieved renown for their elegant neoclassical furnishings only
after they moved to Boston in 1793.
The clock, which is not permitted to travel, was collected by the
pioneering Seymour scholar Vernon Stoneman and acquired for the
White House in 1972 through the machinations of the master
fundraiser Clement Conger. It was only during his third
examination of the piece, which stands a towering eight feet
tall, that Robert D. Mussey, Jr, found the initials "JS"
inscribed on the interior of its case.
"It takes many pairs of good eyes to advance scholarship. I don't
claim that I've caught every inscription, but I've caught quite a
few," says the furniture conservator, whose decade-long study of
the Seymours has resulted in a landmark volume, The Furniture
Masterworks of John & Thomas Seymour, published by the
Peabody Essex Museum and distributed by the University Press of
New England. A companion exhibition, "Luxury and Innovation:
Furniture Masterworks by John and Thomas Seymour," is on view at
the Peabody Essex Museum through February 15.
