Dedham joinery, pt. 2

carved panel, Fairbanks chest, Dedham, Massachusetts

This is the follow-up to my previous post about Dedham (Massachusetts) oak furniture. I’m just picking up where I left off, so you might need to read the previous one to make sense of today’s. Once St. George set himself the task of searching for an adult craftsman who was from Suffolk, now working in Dedham - as a candidate for the master of John Houghton, he arrived at John Thurston, listed as “of Wrentham in Suff., carpenter” when he set sail for New England in 1637. St. George cites several town records of Medfield that detail work done by Thurston - mostly building work for the meeting house, building a schoolhouse, etc. There are references to him being called on to make some seating in the meeting house - in 1658 or so: “Agreed with brother Thurston to make the seate about the tabell in the meeting house and to seat the galiry.”

St. George suggests that Thurston “probably trained in Sotterly or Wrentham, both of which are in Suffolk.” If he had some period sources for this suggestion, he didn’t cite them. Once he’s decided that, he concludes: “Houghton must have been trained in the Suffolk visual dialect that dominated Dedham.” 

And there you have it. It’s in print and has stood the test of time. There is no evidence linking Thurston and Houghton whatsoever. His premise that Houghton was a child when he arrived and therefore was trained here is out the window. So then - there’s no need for Thurston to be credited with either making any of these carved works or with training Houghton “in the Suffolk visual dialect...” There are objects in various collections attributed to John Thurston based on St. George’s article. I should shut up about it, I once got called on to make a carved box for a descendant of John Thurston. I told her what I thought - and she ordered the box anyway and was seemingly happy. 

All that being said, there are at least a couple of “hands” responsible for the carved works from Dedham and Medfield. One chest that I got to see a couple of times and even made a copy of is the joined chest formerly and currently in the Jonathan Fairbanks house in Dedham.

Fairbanks chest