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Duncan Phyfe

Duncan Phyfe , c.1768-1854, American cabinetmaker, b. Scotland. He emigrated to America c.1783, settling at Albany, N.Y., where he was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker. In the early 1790s he established a shop in New York City for the production of furniture; after several moves he finally settled in Partition St. (later changed to Fulton St.). He first spelled his name Fife but c.1793 adopted the form Phyfe. He made chairs, sofas or settees, tables, and sideboards, using in great part solid mahogany but also some mahogany veneer, satinwood and maple, and, in later years, rosewood. During his most productive period (until 1820) he was influenced by, and adapted the forms of, the Adam brothers, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton and characteristics of the French Directoire and Consulate styles. Later, his designs followed the Empire style, becoming in his final period heavy, overornamented, and to a great degree characterless. Phyfe employed in general the highest standards, applied under supervision to carefully selected woods. His first designs are characterized by excellent proportions, graceful curves often accentuated by parallel rows of reeding, simple ornaments well placed and carved with precision, and decorative motifs such as the lyre, the acanthus or oak leaf, and the drapery swag. Although much furniture termed Phyfe may not have been produced in his workshop, his designs were the nucleus of the Duncan Phyfe style.

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	Duncan Phyfe, revisitus. Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 1/1/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...fronts of the shop and warehouse of Duncan Phyfe, a man whose name, more than any other...matter remain matters of speculation. Duncan Phyfe was born in Scotland in 1768 and came...published Furniture Masterpieces of Duncan Phyfe, the first monograph on an American... Read more
	An important rosewood and cast-iron gueridon attributed to Duncan Phyfe and Sons. Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 5/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...Fig. 1), linking the table to Duncan Phyfe, one of New York City's preeminent...dating, for the firm was known as Duncan Phyfe and Sons only between 1837 and...Michael (d.c. 1840) and James Duncan Phyfe (b. 1797) were in business with... Read more
	R.T.H. Halsey: American Wing founder and champion of Duncan Phyfe.(New York Metropolitan Museum, American Wing) Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 1/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...trustees, thanked Halsey for the complete showing of furniture by Duncan Phyfe, the New York cabinet-maker, for the loan of his collection of silver...ended up permanently at the museum. [9] Halsey's fascination with Duncan Phyfe app Read more
	Historic Deerfield.(Current and coming) Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 5/1/2008; ; 345 words ; Honor'e Lannuier, Samuel McIntire, Duncan Phyfe, John and Thomas Seymour, and John Townsend are among the cabinetmakers whose furniture is featured in a new semipermanent exhibition... Read more
	James Surls; the Splendora years, 1977-1997.(Brief Article)(Book Review) Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 2/1/2006; 144 words ; ...name at the Blaffer Gallery of the University of Houston, this catalog tells the story of an intriguing and tremendously productive period in the life of sculptor James Surls. For 20 years Surls lived and worked in the backwoods of East Texas, where he built... Read more
	New York furniture for the Stirlings of Wakefield, Saint Francisville, Louisiana. Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 5/1/2007; ; 700+ words ; On October 24, 1836, twenty-eight crates of furniture, commissioned from the eminent New York City cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe by the Louisiana planter Lewis Stirling (Fig. 1, left) and his wife, Sarah Turnbull Stirling (Fig. 1, right), arrived... Read more
	Make Good Use of the End-of-Year Holiday Season.(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Los Angeles Business Journal; 10/30/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's as a total loss, or you can turn that month and a half into an extremely productive period. If we all adopted the philosophy of writing off certain parts of the year, we could mark out a large percentage of our... Read more
	The world debates while children die.(COLUMN) Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter; 11/4/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...continue to say that many children die needlessly every day from preventable causes. The past 50 years have witnessed the most productive period in global agricultural history. The green revolution has seen the greatest reduction in hunger that the world has ever... Read more
	The American sofa table. Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 5/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; In 1950 Albert Sack published one of the few sofa tables produced in America, a New York example in the style of Duncan Phyfe.(1) Sixteen years later Charles E Montgomery declared sofa tables the rarest of all American drop-leaf tables. He added... Read more
	The Livingstons' best New York City Federal furniture. Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 5/1/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...furniture is seldom listed among the celebrated achievements of American furniture makers - at least not until the arrivals of Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854) by 1792 and Charles Honore Lannuier (1779-1819) in 1803. Although it is possible that the growing metropolis... Read more

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	Duncan Phyfe Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography Duncan Phyfe Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854), Scottish-born American...furniture makers in the United States. Duncan Phyfe was born at Loch Fannich. He probably...name until, in 1837, it was changed to Duncan Phyfe and Son. Ten years later, because he... Read more
	American art Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ...models, although in furniture some variations appeared in the work of talented artisans such as Samuel McIntire and Duncan Phyfe . In the first half of the 18th cent. a growing demand for portrait painting attracted such artists as John Smibert... Read more
	Glue Book article from: How Products Are Made ...sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries used glue in furniture construction, including Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Duncan Phyfe, the Adams brothers, and Sheraton. The glues used by these cabinet makers were made from animal hides, hooves, and other... Read more

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