John Needles
Wardrobe
1829-1839
Physical Qualities
Maple, maple veneers, mahogany, walnut; tulip poplar, yellow pine, and chestnut, 89 x 49 1/2 x 26 in. (226.1 x 125.8 x 66.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. John O. Needles
Object Number
1961.45
Although simple in form, this Baltimore wardrobe is enriched with a complexity of materials. Flat panels of lively figured maple veneer are set off by carved mahogany capitals and paw feet. While the wardrobe retains the light/dark contrasting woods of earlier Federal furniture, the absence of brasses and intricate inlay, as well as a ramped-up monumentality, indicate that John Needles followed the general American shift toward heavier, plainer Empire-style furniture during the first half of the 19th century. The wardrobe descended through the maker’s family and was donated to the Museum in 1961.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, by gift, 1961; by descent to Mrs. John Oliver Needles, Baltimore, Maryland, by 1961; John Needles, Baltimore, Maryland, by 1853.
Gregory R. Weidman, Jennifer F. Goldsborough, et al, Maryland Historical Society, "Classical Maryland 1815-1845: Fine and Decorative Arts from the Golden Age", April 16-September 25, 1993, ill. p. 123.
Elder III, William Voss and Jayne E. Stokes. American Furniture 1680-1880: From the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Museum of Art, 1987, p.99-100. ill. 72.
Inscribed: None.
On View at the BMA
