Christian Shively Jr. (American, 1770 to 1836)
Christian Shively Jr. was born in Maryland, and removed with his family to Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. In 1804/5, he and his family, which included his parents, his brothers and sisters and their families, his new wife and their children, and his wife’s parents, headed west, settling near Wolf Creek, in the present-day area of Madison and Jefferson Townships, just west of Dayton, Ohio. In 1810, Shively contracted with David Baker to build a stone house that still stands today.
Shively’s early life, as well as any training he may have had, remains a mystery, but, according to the 1882 History of Montgomery County, he was a respected member of his community, and served it as a cabinetmaker, undertaker, and even a doctor. Cabinetmaking was likely his principle non-agricultural occupation as he specifically mentions his “cabinet making tools” in his will, dividing them among his five sons, John, David, Samuel, William, and Owen. Shively also had 3 daughters: Christine, Susan, and Elizabeth. Upon his death in 1836, Shively’s tools were valued at fifty dollars.
It is highly unlikely that Shively’s cabinetmaking was limited to cupboards. Shively’s probate inventory not only includes a cupboard, but also a table, several beds, and a “clock and case,” all of which he probably made for his own home. The clock was the highest-valued piece of furniture at $30.00, while the cupboard was valued at a respectable $12.00. The inventory also includes lumber and hardware, offering further evidence that he was actively engaged in the cabinetmaking business.
Eight cupboards attributed to Shively are currently extant. The example in the collection of the Dayton Art Institute remained in the Shively family until purchased at the estate sale of Noah Shively, one of Christian’s grandsons, in 1943. Considering Shively’s prominence in the frontier settlement, it is probable that other cupboards, and perhaps even other pieces of furniture, survive that were made by him.
Most of the surviving cupboards attributed to Shively share a number of stylistic and construction details, including an imposing cornice, a central glazed panel in the upper case, four drawers in the lower case, wedged dovetails in the drawers, brass H-hinges, and the use of cherry as the primary wood and walnut as the secondary wood.
While it may be that another maker was working in the same vicinity and making similar cupboards, another possibility is that the Shively family continued the cabinetmaking business Christian started. The bequest of his tools to his sons as stipulated in his will certainly suggests this. Moreover, a bench that surfaced in that same area of west Dayton bears the name of Christian’s grandson, John.
References:
Garth’s Auctions, November 29, 2002, lot 466.
Hageman, Jane Sikes, Ohio Furniture Makers, Volume 1 (privately printed, 1984)
Made in Ohio: Furniture 1788-1888 (Columbus, OH: Columbus Museum of Art, 1984)
Muller, Charles, “The Extraordinary Cupboards of Christian Shively,” in Ohio Antique Review (June 1983)
“Paul and Alma C. Burnner Americana Collection”, Wolf’s Fine Arts Auctioneers (Cleveland, OH), November 16-17, 1990, lots 809 and 809A.
Information courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions Inc.