The Skillin Family of Carvers of Boston.

The Skillin Family of Carvers 

of Boston, Mass.

some notes.

see - http://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.com/2019/01/boston-carvers-of-18th-century.html

This family tree from - A Forgotten Landscape: How A Place Called Crockett's Corner Became The Maine ...  By M.M. Drymon PhD pub. 2017

The majority of references to the Skillin(g)s is available on line through Google books.


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Simeon Skillin (Skilling) the Elder (1716 - 78).


Born Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire 1st July 1716.

Son of John Skillen (1676 - 1727) housewright of Portsmouth Maine and Rhoda Haley.
Died Boston Mass. 27 February 1778.
Married Ruth Philips 15 March 1738.

Father of Mary Skillin, Elizabeth Skillin, Simeon Skillin, Samuel Skillin, Richard Skillin, and John Skillin.

1 July, 1737 Occupation: Apprentice carver

1 July 1744, Occupation: Constable 

Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

In business in Salutation Alley Boston by 1741

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Sons -Samuel (1742 - 93) (Carver) and John Skillin (1745 - 1800). Simeon (1756 - 1806) Carver,

For more info on the Skillin Skilling Family history see -

A Forgotten Landscape: How A Place Called Crockett's Corner Became The Maine ...

By M.M. Drymon PhD - 2017.

available on Google Books

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The Essex Institute Historical Collections Vol XCIII - 1957.


Carved Figures by Samuel Mcintire and his contemporaries
by Nina Fletcher Little

The pages below have been lifted from the easily searchable digital version available online at - 

https://archive.org/details/essexinstitutehi93esse/page/n5

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In the 1780 tax lists for Suffolk County, George Bright and the equally successful cabinetmaker Alexander Edwards were assessed £120 apiece whereas the carver Joshua Bowles paid £10 and carvers Simeon and John Skillin paid only £20 and £15 respectively.

Simeon Skillin had his business in Salutation Alley in 1741

see

Leroy L. Thwing, “The Four Carving Skillins,” Antiques, xxxiii (June, 1938), 327.
Info above from:

https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/1113

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Boston Directory published 1796

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For an excellent survey of American Mid 18th Century Culture see

American Rococo, 1750-1775: Elegance in Ornament

By Morrison H. Heckscher, Leslie Greene Bowman.
1992

Catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum.

It is a very useful introduction to mid 18th century American carvers see -

Currently available on line with google books

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0IqxqguoyBkC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

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For a list of Boston Furniture Craftsmen;

https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/1121

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For Shipbuilding in the Early 18th Century see -

 Britain's Glory: or Ship-Building Unvail'd, William Sutherland, 1717

http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHOdocuView?url=/permanent/shipbuilding/Suthe_Brita_01_1717/index.meta&start=1&viewMode=image&pn=18

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For an excellent study of the Skillins, see Sylvia L. Lahvis, “The Skillin Workshop and the Emblematic Image in Federal Boston,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, 1990.

info from 

http://www.chipstone.org/article.php/32/American-Furniture-1994/John-Cogswell-and-Boston-Bomb%C3%A9-Furniture:-Thirty-Five-Years-of-Revolution-in-Politics-and-Design

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The Bust of William Pitt. 

by Simeon Skillin Senior.

Church Green Dedham Mass.

put up in 1766.

The pages above illustrate that Simeon Skillen senior carved a bust of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, in February, March of 1767.


Portrait busts of Pitt the Elder
see my post:

http://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.com/2018/12/william-pitt-senior-harvard-ceramic-bust.html

A ceramic bust of Pitt the Elder - possibly of Coade Stone, after Joseph Wilton is in the Harvard University Portrait Collection, Gift of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, 1769.

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A Bust of William Pitt the Elder by Joseph Wilton.

Marble.

Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge.

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Marble bust of Pitt the Elder.

Joseph Wilton.

National Portrait Gallery.

they say c. 1766.

73 cms 

purchased 1990 - no further provenance provided.

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw07194/William-Pitt-1st-Earl-of-Chatham

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Pitt the Elder.

Joseph Wilton.

Goverment Art Collection.

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Pitt the Elder.

Joseph Wilton.

dated 1759.

National Portrait Gallery of Scotland.

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Bust of Pitt the Elder
after Joseph Wilton
by Joseph Nollekens
Belvoir Castle.

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Simeon Skillin senior  and John Welch were employed as carvers by the Boston upholsterer Samuel Grant (1705 - 84). Both are mentioned in his Petty Ledgers.

He paid Welch £11 - 19s in 1756 and 1758 and in 1762 he paid Skillen for carving cornices headboards and branches for bedsteads  and 1763. 

Simeon Skillin was paid £3 on 1st October1763 for "Carvg a set of open corniches" see - American Rococo, 1750-1775: Elegance in Ornament By Morrison H. Heckscher, Leslie Greene Bowman.

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Scanned from Winterthur publication, 1992. below -

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Simeon Skillin and a bust of William Pitt Earl of Chatham

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Assembly House, 138 Federal St, Salem.

The bust has been attrib. to the Skillins workshop for McIntire.

The house perhaps erected in 1782.

Image here from:

https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/capobject/?refd=PC002.USMA.Salem.159.15

information from:

Essex Institute Historical Collections; Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. Vol XCIII, 1957.

available online at -

https://archive.org/details/essexinstitutehi93esse/page/118

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Figures Attributed to the Skillin workshop

From American Furniture.

Desk-and-bookcase attributed to John Cogswell 

with figures attributed to the Skillin shop, Boston, 1780–1785. 

Mahogany with white pine. H. 95 1/2", W. 37 5/16", D. 20". 

(Courtesy, Winterthur Museum, acc. 56.23.)

http://www.chipstone.org/article.php/32/American-Furniture-1994/John-Cogswell-and-Boston-Bomb%C3%A9-Furniture:-Thirty-Five-Years-of-Revolution-in-Politics-and-Design

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Fort a carved Billet Head attributed to the Skillin workshop see:

http://www.hylandgranby.com/inventory/carved-billethead-with-carved-acanthus-leaves-attributed-to-the-skillon-shop-boston

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From  the  middle  of the  seventeenth century up to the Civil  War there were in New England,  New   York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,   and  other parts  of the  country,   many  carvers  who  were  closer  to  the  great  tradition of their art   than   were   the professional sculptors. William   Codner, Henry Christian Geyer, and Isaac Fowle  of  Boston, the Lamsons.

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Henry Christian Geyer (d. 1785) of Boston.

A few notes:

The most famous of around 14 Boston headstone cutters before 1800.

For further carvers of Gravestones see -

 Historic Gravestone Art of Charleston, South Carolina, 1695-1802; By David R. Mould, Missy Loewe, pub 2006

Portland’s Historic Eastern Cemetery: A Field of Ancient Graves

By Ron Romano pub. 2017.

Historical Burial Grounds of the New Hampshire Seacoast

By Glenn A. Knoblock, pub. 2006.

As early as 1768 Henry Christian Geyer advertised the making of plaster animals, and two years later his advertisement in the Boston Newsletter of January 25 1768 read : "Henry Christian Geyer, Stone Cutter, near Liberty Tree, South End, Boston, Hereby informs his Customers, and other Gentlemen and Ladies, that besides carrying on the Stone Cutting Business as usual, he carries on the Art and Manufacture of a Fuser Simulacrorum, or the making of all sorts of Images, viz;., 1st. Kings and Queens; 2nd. King George 6? Queen Charlotte; 3rd. King fep Queen of Prussia; 4th. King 62? Queen of Denmark; 5th. King & Queen of Sweden, Likewise a Number of Busts, among which are, Mathew Prior, Homer, Milton, &c. also a number of animals such as Parrots, Dogs, Lions, Sheep, with a number of others too many to enumerate: Said Geyer also cleans old deficient Animals, and makes them look as well as new, at a reasonable Rate. All the above mentioned Images, Animals, &c. are made of Plaister of Paris of this Country Produce, and Manufactured at a reasonable Rate... any Merchants, Masters of Vessels, Country Traders, Shopkeepers, ., may be supplied with what quantity they may have occasion for by giving timely notice to said Geyer."

Gravestone at Newburyport attrib. Geyer

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Boston Post Boy
29 Feb 1768.

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In the months after the Townshend Act went into effect and colonists enacted nonimportation agreements in response, some advertisers incorporated implicitly political appeals into their commercial notices. In the February 29, 1768, editions of both the Boston Evening-Post and the Boston-Gazette, for instance, Samuel A. Otis advertised “A variety of Flannels and Hose, fabricated by some of the best Manufacturers in the Province.” 

When town meetings throughout New England voted to boycott imported goods they simultaneously declared their intentions to encourage “domestic manufactures.” Otis sought to tap into this enthusiasm for goods produced locally, but the conversation was so familiar that he did not need to offer further elaboration.

Henry Christian Geyer, on the other hand, adopted a different strategy. On the same day he inserted an advertisement in the Boston Post-Boy. In it, he rehearsed the recent history of decisions made at town meetings, explaining that he launched a new branch of his business because “not only this Town, but the whole Country, have voted and agreed to encourage all Arts and Manufactures of all sorts and kinds, in order to prevent the great and unnecessary Importations in North-America, and keep what little Money we have among us, without sending the same abroad.” Due to those circumstances, Geyer “thought it necessary to erect the Art of Fuser Simulacrorum, or the making of all sorts of Images, Birds, Cats, Dogs, & all other sorts of curious Animals, all of Plaster of Paris.” Collectors now refer to such ornaments as chalkware.

Colonists did not need these decorative objects in the same whey they needed the textiles and garments advertised by Otis, yet Geyer attempted to incite demand for all sorts of consumer goods, not just the basic necessities. He emphasized that colonists needed to support “all Arts and Manufacturers of all sorts and kinds,” not just those related to food, clothing, and shelter. Nobody needed to refrain from obtaining trinkets to decorate their homes just because they had resolved not to purchase goods imported from England. Instead, Geyer offered an option for continuing to engage in conspicuous consumption and ostentatious displays within the home while simultaneously supporting the economic and political interests of the colonies. Prospective customers must have found his appeals convincing. For the next several years Geyer continued to advertise that he practiced “the Art of Fuser Simulacrorum” and produced all sorts of images and animals to decorate colonial homes.  Click here to examine examples of these images, a pair of portrait medallions of George III and Charlotte.

Note that Geyer also listed his location as “near Liberty-Tree, South-End, Boston.” Even in telling readers where to find him, he injected politics into his advertisement.

text above from the very excellent website:

https://adverts250project.org/tag/henry-christian-geyer/

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Henry Christian Guyer was a well respected artist which carved his artistry all by hand. He not only carved some of the most beautiful works of art on gravestones that can still be seen in old graveyards even today, but he also did models out of "plaster of paris" among many other trades.

Henry married on January 23rd of 1757 to a Thankful Rice Bolter, who's previous marriage was to a Benjamin Bolter. It has also been said that Henry and Thankful had at least two children together, a John Just Geyer, Sr., as well as Henry Geyer. But after the passing of Henry's first wife he then remarried to a Sarah Jones which was on June 27th in the year of 1771. And it is known that they had at least one child together, a Peter Geyer.

Henry's son John Just Geyer, Sr. followed in his father's foot steps and also worked in his father's shop as a stone carver. His father founded this shop in Boston, and between the two of them, their works were sold around the region. Ads appear in the 1760's newspapers, and this shop was located near "Liberty Tree", at the corner of Washington and Essex Street. But unfortunately after John Just Geyer Sr. who died in 1808 and his father had passed away, their shop was not successful for those left to continue the trade.

***Henry's death is some what of a mystery, as some say he died in 1790, while others say he died in the year 1786, as well as in 1793. But we will go with what the Boston Magazine stated for the death month and year, and mentioned he was aged 43 years.***

His most renown gravestone carving, that of a Mrs. Susanna Jayne which passed away in the year of 1776 rests in one of Massachusetts most beautiful graveyards, Old Burial Hill located in Marblehead. This magnificent design has created a lot of attention over the years, and has been printed onto shirts and decals and much more as a type of Souvenir.

He is most likely buried in the tomb with his mother.

Text above from


https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20695160/henry-christian-geyer


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Pair of Reliefs of George III and Queen Charlotte
Henry Chistian Geyer (1727 - 1785).


Lot 329

 Summer Weekend Auction, 18-20 August 2017

Geyer, a stone cutter of German descent, was known for his intricately-carved gravestones, which are found throughout New England.

 He also produced a variety of products in plaster-of-Paris, as advertised in the Boston Newsletter of January 25, 1770: “… that besides carrying on the Stone Cutting Business as usual, he [Geyer] carries on the Art and Manufacture of a Fuser Simulacrorum, or the making of all sorts of Images, viz., Kings and Queens; 2nd. King George & Queen Charlotte; 3rd. King & Queen of Prussia… Likewise a Number of Busts, among which are, Mathew Prior, Homer, Milton, &c. ù also a number of animals such as Parrots, Dogs, Lions, Sheep, with a number of others too many to enumerate… All the above-mentioned Images, Animals, &c. are made of Plaister of Paris of this Country Produced and Manufactured at a reasonable Rate.öEach polychrome painted oval plaque modeled and cast in plaster-of-Paris within a beaded and foliate surround. 

Height 25 inches, width 19 ½ inches.

Text from the auction catalogue:

http://northeastauctions.com/product/rare-pair-of-large-american-colonial-portrait-medallions-of-king-george-iii-and-queen-charlotte-attributed-to-henry-christian-geyer-american-1727-1785/

In the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, October 3, 1768, James Strachan, carver and gilder, from London, and David Davidson, who were in the looking-glass business in New York, advertised: "He has also imported some elegant plaister busts." 

On February 2, 1769, Bernard & Jugiez, Carvers & Gilders in Philadelphia advertised in the South Carolina Gazette & Country Journal: "Have imported from London looking glasses, figures of plaister-of-Paris, brackets, etc." 

In the New York journal or General Advertiser June 1, 1769, Nicholas Bernard, Carver, "Has for sale . . . Figures of Plaster-of-Paris." 

The first notice of any plaster-of-Paris figures made in this country appears in the notice of Henry Christian Geyer, stonecutter, of Boston, in January 25, 1770, in the Boston News Letter. He advertises "image making or Fuser Simulacrum, Kings and Queens, King George, Queen Charlotte, King and Queen of Sweden, King and Queen of Prussia, King and Queen of Denmark-Busts, Mathew Prior, Homer, Milton-Animals, Parrots, cats, dogs, lions, sheep. All made of-Plaster-of Paris of this Country produce. Country shop keepers supplied." 

The fact that Geyer was German and used German words in describing his products indicates that he sold to the German trade and may well have sent them to the Pennsylvania Dutch country.

The Prince of Wales
 Attrib. Geyer
Plaster
36.3 cms
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/probably-the-prince-of-wales-plaque-40712

Another plaster relief attributed to Geyer

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Old Burial Hill, Marblehead, Mass.

Gravestone of Susanna Jayne
1777.

Henry Christian Geyer

Deposited

Beneath this Stone the Mortal Part

of Mrs. Susanna Jayne, the amiable Wife of

Mr. Peter Jayne, who lived Beloved

and Died Universally Lamented, on

August 8th 1776 in the 45th

Year of her Age.

“Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints.”

Here Sleeps the precious Dust — She Shines above,

Whose Form was harmony, whose soul was Love.

What were her Virtues? all that Heaven could Spare

What were her Graces? all Divinity Fair.

Mingling with Angels, they admire a Guest,

As spotless Good, and lovely as the Rest.

Gravestone Symbolism.

The Jayne stone features an unusual abundance of symbols. A skeleton, representing Death, is the central figure. It wears a crown of laurels, indicative of victory. In its hands are celestial objects: the moon in one hand and the sun in the other. Behind Death is the scythe it uses to reap its harvest. Encircling Death is a snake, with its tail in its mouth, possibly indicating the never ending nature of eternity. In the upper two corners are winged cherubs, or angels of heaven. In the lower corners are bats of the underworld. The upper panel has an hourglass flanked by bones: Death moves in when time runs out.

Images and text from:

http://www.oldburialhill.org/ministers/ministers_02a.html

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