Farrow Furnture

With gratitude from the estate of Mrs. Emily R. Farrow, a lifelong collection donor, The Charleston Museum has just added four new Charleston-made pieces of neo-classical furniture, including a remarkable secretary bookcase attributed to local cabinetmaker, Robert Walker circa 1805. This large piece of case furniture along with another Charleston card table is now on display inside the Joseph Manigault House.

Additionally, a large chest of drawers and a lovely sideboard (both locally made) were included in the acquisition. Of course, The Museum holds an already nationally and internationally recognized collection of Charleston furniture, and these four new and previously unrecorded pieces are fantastic additions to our decorative arts treasure trove.

Also included in Mrs. Farrow’s bequest is a stunning one-gallon coin silver water pitcher bearing the mark of James Spear & Co. Spear, a local silversmith and jeweler, only used this particular mark for three years beginning in 1849. Besides its local manufacture, the pitcher’s beautiful engraving gives heed to its excellent provenance: an etched “HR” for Dr. Henry Ravenel and “Pooshee” for his Pooshee Plantation once located in St. John’s Berkeley Parish (Berkeley County). In 1939, work began on the Santee Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation project and the site now lies beneath Lake Moultrie.

Grahame Long
Curator of History