Sofa

ca. 1840

Thomas Day American, ca. 1801 - 1861

On View

African American, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

Born into a free black family in Virginia, Thomas Day learned the cabinetmaker’s trade as his father’s apprentice. He pursued most of his career in Milton, North Carolina, where he rose to prominence as a furniture craftsman, running one of the largest and most successful establishments in the state. His clients included wealthy families throughout the region in such states as South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. This handsome mahogany sofa was made for a client in Yanceyville, a small city near Milton, and the Brooks family kept it for five generations. With its severe classical lines, “s”-scroll arms, and absence of applied ornamentation, the sofa exemplifies the restrained elegance of the American Restoration Style that marked a return to the austere neoclassicism of the earlier Federalist era. Day’s impeccable interpretation incorporates elements featured in John Hall’s manual A Cabinet Makers’ Assistant (1840), which is credited with popularizing the style.

From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title Sofa

Artwork Date ca. 1840

Artist Thomas Day

Life Dates ca. 1801 - 1861

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Wood and black horsehair

Dimensions Overall: 36 1/4 × 87 1/2 × 29 1/2 inches (92.1 × 222.3 × 74.9 cm)

Classification Furniture

Department African American Art

Credit Museum purchase, Gibbs-Williams Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2006.149

Markings

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Provenance

1840, purchased from the artist by a member of the Brooks family;
by inheritance to Alton Brooks (Yanceeville, North Carolina);
2006-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts from Alton Brooks' estate (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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