Furniture Hardware
1820–30
Medium
Gilt brass
Dimensions
2 1/16 x 1 1/2 in. (5.2 x 3.8 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.68.8.36
Art Historical Context
Nestled in The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art this exquisite *Furniture Hardware* by Henry Kellam Hancock (0–30) exemplifies the refined craftsmanship of early 19th America. Crafted from gilt brass—a luxurious medium where a thin layer gold is applied to brass a shimmering, durable finish—this petite piece measures just 2 1/16 x 1 1/2 inches (5.2 x 3.8 cm). Likely a drawer pull or escutcheon, would have adorned high-style furniture, blending functionality with elegant decoration. During the 1820s, as the United States embraced neoclassical influences inspired by ancient Greec...
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...