Against the Grain

T h e Rem ark abl e Life an d L egac y of Mast er Craf t sm an an d Free Man of Color T h om as Day

By Jo R a msay LeimenstoLL

In the f ur nit ure and woodwork he craf ted for a reg ion’s elite, f ree Black T homas Day (1801-1861) combined his cabinetmak ing talents with his personal inter pretations of fashionable st yles to create a distinctive woodwork ing idiom unique to the mid-nineteenth cent ur y Dan R iver reg ion of Nor th Carolina and Virg inia. His remark able legacy of f ur nit ure and architect ural woodwork reveals a familiar it y with popular patter n book s, master y of f ur nit ure-mak ing techniques, incor poration of emerg ing technolog y, and expression of a personal aesthetic that elevates him beyond the role of a craf tsman to that of an ar tist. With his g reat ar tistic autonomy, Day is one of a few f ree people of color to leave behind a substantial body of work, one that includes more than 20 0 pieces of f ur nit ure as well as inter ior woodwork in more than eight y houses.

Bor n in Virg inia to mi xed-race parents, T homas lear ned the woodwork ing trade f rom his father, John Day. W hen T homas was a teen, the family mig rated f rom Virg inia to Nor th Carolina, event ually settling in War ren Count y. In 1821, T homas lef t his father’s cabinetmak ing shop to set up his ow n shop in Hillsborough. Just t wo years later he joined his older brother John’s shop in the bustling tow n of Milton where access to the Dan R iver and t wo railroad lines generated a thr iving communit y of ar tisans and merchants. A lthough John subsequently lef t for Liber ia to become a Baptist missionar y, T homas remained in Milton where he continued to build his cabinetmak ing business, purchasing proper t y in 1827 and establishing his reputation as an ar tisan. In 1830, Day mar r ied Aquilla Wilson, a f ree Black f rom Virg inia, but she could not join him because an 1826 law prohibited f ree people of color f rom mig rating to Nor th Carolina.

R ock ing chair. Made by T homas Day, ca. 1850. Mahogany, mahogany veneer, pine (upholster y not orig inal).

Bureau w it h look ing glass or

mir ror. Made by T homas Day, 1855. Mahogany, mahogany veneer, yellow pine, poplar, white marble.

In an unusual response that speak s to Day’s impor tance within the communit y, si xt y- one prominent white men in Milton and Caswell Count y successf ully petitioned the General A ssembly to per mit Aquilla to move to Nor th Carolina. Romulus Saunders, the state’s attor ney general, endorsed the petition adding:

I have k now n T homas Day (in whose beha lf the w ithin petition is addressed) for severa l years past and I am f ree to say, that I consider him a f ree man of color, of ver y fair character — an excellent mechanic, industr ious, honest and sober in his habits and in the event of any dist urbance amongst the Black s, I should rely w ith confidence upon a disclosure f rom him as he is the ow ner of slaves as well as of rea l estate. His case may in my opinion, w ith safet y be made an exception to the genera l r ule which polic y at this time seems to demand.

T he petition was g ranted in late 1830, and Aquilla joined T homas in Milton. Dur ing the decade that followed their household g rew to include three children and eight enslaved people. Day was a husband, father, church-going Chr istian, and respected member of the communit y. He was also a g if ted ar tisan and a clever businessman. A s his clientele expanded and his business g rew, he purchased more properties in Milton, event ually acquir ing the prominent Union Taver n on Main Street to ser ve as his shop and residence.

Day benefit ted f rom the economic boom- era in the Dan R iver reg ion that sprang f rom the 1839 discover y of a process for cur ing tobacco w ith heat creating v iv id yellow “Br ightleaf ” tobacco. A s the wea lth of white planters soared, Day was in the r ight place at the r ight time, ready to accommodate their aspirations for refinement and gentilit y. Many chose Day to express their stat us through his inter pretations of the fashionable Grecian st yle of f ur nit ure that para lleled the emerg ing Greek R ev iva l architect ura l st yle. A sav v y entrepreneur, Day capita lized on the planters’ socia l net work to establish the largest cabinetmaker’s shop in the state by 1850 — a shop w ith a diverse work force of enslaved men, white and mulat to jour ney men, and apprentices.

Union Tavern/ T homas Day House, Caswell County, NC, ca. 1818. Jim L amb , Capital City Camera Club, photographer. Cour tesy of Preservation Nor th Carolina.

His f ur nit ure and woodwork were pr imar ily craf ted for the homes of wealthy planters and middle- class merchants, including such prominent citizens as physician and planter John T. Garland, attorneys Bar tlett Yancey and Romulus Saunders, merchant John Wilson, and planters William H. L ong, William H. Holder ness, and T homas M. McGehee. In addition, Day also received some instit utional commissions, including f ur nishings for the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societ y Debating Hall at the Universit y of Nor th Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also fabr icated the pews for the Milton Presby ter ian Church where he and Aquilla were respected members.

Day’s early f ur nit ure reflects a familiar it y w ith popular pat ter n book s illustrating classica lly inspired pieces he sk illf ully replicated. Day was a lso quick to incor porate the emerg ing st ylistic trends ap pear ing on the nationa l scene, including French, cot tage, and Gothic influences. By the 1840s he adopted a more idiosy ncratic desig n aesthetic that disting uished his work f rom his contemporar ies and f rom the pat ter n book s and broadside posters of the per iod. Day fabr icated much of his f ur nit ure f rom impor ted ma hogany, or he employed ma hogany veneers over secondar y woods. His reper toire included a ll the pieces needed to accommodate a genteel lifest yle, and his embrace of technolog ica l innovations such as a si x-horsepower steam eng ine dramatica lly enhanced his productiv it y. Bet ween his steam-powered shop equipment and large work force, Day could rapidly produce orders even as large as Gover nor Dav id Set tle R eid ’s 1855 request for for t y-seven pieces of f ur nit ure.

Day’s custom-made cabinetr y and f ur nit ure ex hibit a power f ul energ y and a vocabular y of indiv idua lized motifs that define both for m and detail. W hile his desig ns adhered to the pr inciples of sy mmetr y and ba lance, and utilized classica l details, Day pushed beyond standard conventions w ith bold three- dimensiona lit y, ser pentine cur ves and ex uberant or namentation. T he fluidit y of his for ms suggests a sense of motion that by contrast made the work of his counter par ts appear staid. T he popular S -shaped scroll motif is incor porated into many of his pieces such as the rock ing chair ar ms and the mir ror brackets of his open pillar bureaus. Day lightens the massiveness of Ca leb R ichmond ’s sideboard w ith S -shaped pillars ter minating at the base in scrolled feet, and he embellishes the mir rored ga ller y back w ith a pair of whimsica l S -scrolls set on the diagona l.

Day of ten detailed his side chairs and rock ing chairs as well as other pieces with or namentation composed of scroll shapes, ogee and reverse ogee for ms, and foliage motifs. W hile such shapes are cer tainly not unique to Day, he applies them with more vitalit y and three- dimensionalit y than his peers. In par ticular, Day’s distinctive whatnots with pierced galler ies illustrate his use of the jigsaw to create positive and negative shapes. Still balanced and symmetr ical, these play f ul ser pentine shapes convey motion and whimsy as do the S -shaped scrolls that suppor t each of the shelves.

T he unique, sig nat ure lounge is the f ur nit ure for m most closely identified w ith T homas Day. It evolved f rom an upholstered lounge for m popular in the early 180 0s that incor porated a low back at one end. Day transfor ms this earlier model by suspending a slender backboard bet ween arching rear pillars so it appears to float ef for tlessly across the leng th of the lounge and creates a complementar y negative space in the open back below. Likew ise, the side ar m rails of the lounge mir ror their shapes in both positive and negative for ms.

Like his f ur nit ure, the distinct and innovative architect ural

W hatnot or étagère. Made by T homas Day, 1853-1860. Mahogany, mahogany veneer, yellow pine, tulip poplar, walnut.

woodwork of cabinetmaker T homas Day emerged f rom a specific context of race and place as planters in the 1840s and 1850s expressed their gentilit y through new boom- era Greek Revival houses and f ront additions to earlier homes in the Dan R iver reg ion. More than eight y houses constr ucted or expanded over a quar ter cent ur y radiate out f rom Day’s shop in Milton on either side of the Dan R iver, revealing the volume and scope of his work. Si x intact Nor th Carolina houses illustrate Day’s f ully ar ticulated woodwork ensembles of the mid-180 0s. Two were built as additions to older houses: the 1856 f ront section of the Bar tlett Yancey House and the ca. 1855 side addition to L ong wood (lost to fire in 2013). T he other four proper ties are large Greek Revival per iod houses: the Holder ness House (ca. 1851), the Fr iou-Hurdle House (1858), the R ichmond House (ca. 1850), and the Bass House (ca. 1855). In the next decade, Day embraced the emerg ing Italiante st yle with lively saw nwork craf ted for the exter ior and inter ior of the Garland-Buford House ( ca. 1860).

Commissions f rom wealthy planters provided a spr ingboard for Day to create his ow n ar tistic sig nat ure wr it large through architect ural compositions. Using staircases, mantels, niches, cor ner block s, baseboards, and casings as his palette to sculpt inter ior spaces, Day developed a fluid, exuberant, idiosyncratic inter pretation of the Greek Revival st yle adopted throughout the Dan R iver reg ion — all the while operating within the legal and social systems that constrained f ree Black s at the time.

Day brought the v ivacit y of the cur v ing line to his woodwork in innovative ways that continue to ama ze and delight. In his entrance ha lls, bold and var ied S -shaped newel posts w ith tightly coiled spira ls and sinuous cur ves spr ing f rom the handrails, a ll in shar p contrast to the straight for ward t ur ned newel posts in most houses of the era. Many of these houses t y pica lly have t ur ned newel posts or the more traditiona l circular r ing of ba lusters suppor ting a hor izonta l spira l that ter minates the handrail. In contrast, Day rotated the relatively serene hor izonta l spira l 90 deg rees and enlarged the ver tica l spira l to for m the entire newel, convey ing a sense of energ y and mo tion that extends the movement of the ramped handrail into the entr y ha ll. Day’s sig nat ure newel posts proclaimed the ow ner’s socia l stat us to a ll who entered. Complementing his newel posts, cur vaceous stair brackets at the end of the treads display fluid-lined var iations on standard patter ns. W hile most Greek Revival staircases incor porate decorative stair brackets, only Day’s utilized coordinated motifs to reinforce the S -shaped newel post statements, such as those he craf ted for the Glass-Dameron House and Hunt House staircases. Day’s mantels, the focal point of many a planter’s parlor, invigorated standard Greek Revival idioms with robust ser pentine mantel f r iezes to create a sense of movement unlike the static paneled f r iezes of their counter par ts. A s seen in the Holder ness House parlor, Day reinforced the hierarchy of the parlor as the most for mal inter ior space by flanking the mantel with arched niches f ramed by deeply fluted moldings. Likewise, around door and window openings, Day installed bold casings animated by the shif ting patter ns of light and shadow on their deeply fluted sur faces. T he undulating for ms and shar ply cut saw nwork character istic of Day’s inter iors play upon the tension bet ween positive and negative space.

Like his f ur nit ure desig ns, Day’s architect ural woodwork g rew out of the f ramework of classical architect ure, respecting for malit y, symmetr y and hierarchy. To his inter iors, Day brought fluidit y and movement as he abstracted, distor ted, rotated, intensified and distilled to transfor m that vocabular y. Day sk illf ully ma ximized and celebrated the fluidit y of for m as someone who k new the r ules and understood how to break them.

T he remark able desig n aesthetic of his f ur nit ure and architect ural woodwork speak s to us of the complexit y of the life and work of T homas Day — an entrepreneur ial f ree person of color who craf ted a remark able legacy equally complex in its st yle and expression. His

L ounge. Made by T homas Day, 1858. Walnut, yellow pine (upholster y not orig inal).

ama zing tang ible body of work continues to astound and inspire far beyond the Dan R iver reg ion. Day’s work also reveals the endur ing power and innovative evolution of his appealing aesthetic, an aesthetic ironically empowered by the most power f ul and wealthy white citizens of his time and place.

Repr int e d w ith per mission from Pre ser vat ion Gre en sboro. Jo R am say L eim en st oll is a pre ser vat ion archit ect an d a Profe ssor Em er it a at th e Universit y of Nor th Carolin a at Gre en sboro.

Garl an d -Buford Hou se, Ca sw ell Count y, NC, c a. 1860. Tim Bu chm an, ph ot og raph er. Cour t e sy of Pre ser vat ion Nor th Carolin a.

To L ea r n More

If you are interested in k nowing more about T homas Day, check out Blandwood Estate cur rent exhibit, “New Perspectives on T homas Day — Pair ing Fur nit ure by Nor th Carolina’s Free Black Master Craf tsman With Contemporar y Pieces From Gover nor Morehead ’s Blandwood,” Apr il 1 through Sept. 30. T he exhibit will generate conversations about the acclaimed f ree Black cabinetmaker and ar tisan. Displayed with Day’s f ur nit ure are pieces once ow ned by Gov. John Motley Morehead. According to Blandwood, the show also examines Day’s f ur nit ure in per iod rooms and “introduces new approaches to understanding the work of this master craf tsman as a successf ul Black entrepreneur operating within elite white social circles.”

“T his special presentation of Day’s f ur nit ure ack nowledges his role in A mer ican histor y and speak s for the legacy that people of color gave Blandwood,” says Benjamin Br iggs, executive director of Preser vation Greensboro. “T his exhibit is dedicated to a more equitable approach to understanding the exper iences of these individuals who have been overlooked in the past.”

A National Histor ic L andmark, Blandwood ’s mission as a traditional house museum is to inter pret histor ical nar ratives related to Nor th Carolina histor y, architect ure and the decorative ar ts. T he exhibit’s mission is to expand the traditional nar ratives around race, gender and class in mid-19th cent ur y Nor th Carolina dur ing the mid-19th cent ur y.

T he Day exhibit is open f rom Apr il 1 through Sept. 30, Tuesdays through Sat urdays 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sundays 2 p.m. – 5 p.m., with the exception of major national holidays. T he last tour beg ins one hour pr ior to closing. Tickets are $8 at the door. OH