A Hand Descendant's Treasure

By Sarah Alberico, Curator

In the early summer of 2018, I received a message from a Hand descendant who lives in Missouri. His name was James Willman, and he was interested in giving us three objects to add to Rock Ford's collection: a dressing table and a pair of dining chairs. Not only were these made in Lancaster County in the last quarter of the 18th century during the time in which Edward Hand lived at Rock Ford, but they had also been passed down through the Hand family - which meant they very well could have been at Rock Ford during the Hands' residency. What an absolute delight to hear about such treasures, currently in Missouri, of all places! There was no question about it - we would absolutely add these pieces to Rock Ford's collection. And with that, fueled by a passion for what we do, a colleague and I drove to Cambridge, Ohio to meet Mr. Willman halfway and collect these incredible pieces.

I would like to elaborate a little on the dressing table. It is a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Chippendale walnut dressing table, a true gem and one of my favorite pieces in the house. The height is 29 inches, width 33 inches, and depth 19 inches. This piece has a molded top over a full-width drawer over three split drawers. The center drawer has an exceptional detailed shell carving and the scrolled apron has a carved shell as well. Some Lancaster County furniture can often be mistaken for Philadelphia furniture at first glance, but one of the most significant characteristics that can be used for contrast lies in the carving. In Philadelphia, the carving would have been done on a separate piece of wood and then that piece would have been applied to the furniture. Whereas in Lancaster, the carving was done directly into the solid wood of the furniture, as on the front of this dressing table. The sleek cabriole legs have shell carved knees, ending in refined ball and claw carved feet. Lastly, just a little bit of icing on the cake, the dressing table retains the original brasses and historical old dry surface.

We have placed the dressing table in Katherine and Edward's bedchamber as though Katherine would have sat by the window (perhaps to do her hair or apply some sort of makeup). I have always thought it rather interesting that the person using it would have to sit completely sideways to avoid hitting their legs. Regardless of its proper use in past times, I cannot think of a better home for it than at Rock Ford.