Duncan Phyfe Table

In the history of American furniture, few names command as much respect and recognition as that of Duncan Phyfe.

Phyfe’s reputation was based on his insistence on adhering to the highest standards, working with the best of woods. His popularity stemmed from his dedication to creating excellent furniture which, in his day, was relatively reasonably priced. Phyfe strongly believed that quality should be within the reach of all Americans and he accomplished that by maintaining a large shop of over one-hundred skilled carvers and joiners who could produce sufficient quantities of furniture to keep prices down.

Young Duncan arrived in America with his family, the Fifes, from Scotland where the dismal economy and living conditions threatened the family’s welfare. His father, a cabinetmaker immediately found employment in New York and Duncan, 16, was offered an apprenticeship. After several years, in 1792, he was ready to open his own shop and it was at this time that he chose to change the spelling of his name to Phyfe. This may have been to distinguish his work from that of his father or, more likely, the change was prompted by a sensible desire to have a more French sounding name in an increasingly anti-British environment.

Phyfe’s early furniture relied heavily on designs from European pattern books, but the quality of his craftsmanship, beautiful proportioning, and his elegance of line soon established him as one of the most important influences of American Federal Period design.

The Museum recently acquired the superb Duncan Phyfe game table c.1820 illustrated here with the assistance of the Clinton Newman Foundation and displays it prominently in the American Art Initiative Gallery on the second floor.