John Henry Belter (1804 to 1863)
The American furniture industry was in a state of flux in the mid-19th century. Gone were the days when a single craftsman toiled in his shop taking raw wood, carving and turning the elements to produce a finished piece that he would then sell himself. The advent of the steam engine changed this industry, as it did for most others, forever. Furniture began to be made in stages: one shop would carve, another would turn, and possibly another would put it all together. The assembled piece would then be sold to a middleman, who might represent furniture from many makers and who would then sell the pieces to retailers who could put their own labels on the products. For a furniture maker to be a success in this environment, he had to be a businessman and an innovator as well as a craftsman.
John Henry Belter, born in Germany in 1804, is an excellent example of one who harnessed the possibilities of the Industrial Revolution and made it work for him. He in fact held four patents for his furniture-making innovations. Belter was one of many German woodworking immigrants, a quick perusal of mid-19th century furniture makers in New York will yield a plethora of German names. His shop is first recorded in New York in 1846, although it is thought that he arrived in New York in the 1830′s. He moved to a larger location in 1853, and in 1854, he changed the name of his business from “J. H. Belter” to “J.H. Belter and Company”: all evidence of a thriving company. Legend has it that he ordered his designs destroyed upon his death, but his brothers-in-law kept the business going under the name “Springmyer Brothers” until 1867. It is unclear whether a lack of vision, business acumen, or maybe just the economic realities of the Civil War caused this previously successful business to fail.
“Belter” furniture has become a generic name for the mid-19th century Rococo Revival style much like “Chippendale” furniture (after Thomas Chippendale, an 18th Century English cabinetmaker) now refers to the Rococo style of many makers in the 18th century. Although historically inaccurate, the Rococo Revival style refers to that of Louis XV with its cabriole legs, curved silhouette, scroll feet and a profusion of carved decorative detail. The Rococo Revival style originated in England in the 1820′s and was also popular in France in the 1830′s (the original Rococo style occurred in France a century earlier). Stylistically, the Revival can be seen as a reaction to the severe rectangularity of the Regency and Biedermeier (German, particularly important to Belter) aesthetic that preceded it in Europe.
No pattern book has yet been found of Belter’s designs, and most pieces are attributed based on the few paper labels extant. What made Belter’s work distinctive was his method of laminating between four and sixteen layers of very thin hardwood (eight was most common). While the grapevines and elaborate carved floral motifs can be found in English and French design books, Belter’s method of bending this laminated wood was almost certainly brought from Germany. Large sheets of wood (oak, ash, walnut or rosewood) would be glued together and then curved into elegant silhouettes by means of a steam press.
This laminated wood had the advantage of being pliable yet very strong. It could be carved, pierced and decorated. Rosewood was used for the most high-style pieces, walnut for medium-priced and oak and ash mostly as structural supports rather than as top layer veneer. Belter’s attributed pieces are the benchmark to which all other Rococo Revival furniture is compared, it is the most naturalistically carved, required the most layers of lamination, and possessed the most curved rails. Lesser makers aspired to Belter quality.
This romantic, sumptuous and robustly carved furniture came in many more forms than had ever been envisioned in the 18th century. The advent of factory production made it possible to produce good quality, low cost furniture for a middle class that was eager to show off it’s wealth. Furniture was frequently sold in sets (a full parlor set contained two sofas, two armchairs, four parlor chairs, a large center table and an etaga¨re), and there were many quirky add-on pieces to round out the decor. Today, a single attributed piece of Belter furniture in good condition would bring a very high price. (The record price for an attributed piece is $86,250 for a center table sold at Fontaine Auction House, Pittsfield, MA, February 7-9, 2003) However, mid-market pieces in the Rococo Revival style are plentiful.
Reference note by p4A Contributing Editor Jan W. Hack..