Furniture Hardware
1820–30
Medium
Gilt brass
Dimensions
2 3/8 x 7/8 in. (6 x 2.2 cm)
Classification
Furniture hardware
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Edward Hunting Smith, 1968
Accession Number
Inst.68.8.82
Art Historical Context
This exquisite piece of furniture hardware, crafted by Henry Kellam Hancock between 1820 and 1830, exemplifies the refined decorative arts of early nineteenth-century America. Measuring just over two inches in length, this gilt brass fitting—likely a drawer pull or escutcheon—was designed to adorn fine furniture in prosperous households. The use of gilt brass, with its warm golden sheen, allowed artisans to achieve an elegant, luxurious appearance at a more accessible cost than solid gold, reflecting the growing middle-class aspirations of the young republic. Hancock’s work belongs to the Ame...
About the Artist
Henry Kellam Hancock · 1816–1851
Henry Kellam Hancock (1788–1854) was a prominent American cabinetmaker based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he contributed significantly to the city's early nineteenth-century furniture trade. Son of Captain Belcher Hancock and Ann "Nancy" Susan Ackers, he entered the profession as a chairmaker around 1816 and transitioned to cabinetmaking by 1826, maintaining workshops on Orange Street from abou...