The Swisegood/Long School of Cabinetmaking
Based in Davidson County, North Carolina, this attribution covers one of the best documented groups of furniture in the Piedmont region.
The work of John Swisegood (1796 to 1874) and his apprentice Jonathan Long (1803 to 1858) is part of a larger body of work produced by at least 15 cabinetmakers in the Davidson and Rowan County region working 1800 to 1850. To date, the 1801 “Long” chest in p4A.com item no. 107080, is the earliest known signed and dated example from this school of back-country cabinetmaking. Another Jonathan Long chest is marked “Jonathan 1832.” Other documented cabinetmakers in the area, Mordica Collins and Jesse Clodfelter, were born in 1785 and 1804, respectively. The Bethany United Church of Christ in Davidson County, North Carolina has in its graveyard a bronze plaque for a Johann Long who died in 1789 and a marker for his son John Long 1782 to 1857 who may be an early as yet undocumented cabinetmaker.