Bookcase

William Hawkins was born and trained in Chester County, Pennsylvania, home to many German immigrant craftsmen. There he mastered traditional German cabinetmaking techniques. Hawkins settled in Cincinnati in 1829 and established a cabinetmaking shop, which he operated until 1837. In 1835 he opened a furniture warehouse, and in 1838 he sold the contents to two Cincinnati cabinetmakers. His career ended abruptly with his untimely death in 1839.

Hawkins produced work for some of the most prominent families in Cincinnati. This bookcase, a stylish but refined piece, displays his superior craftsmanship. Its form and decorative sensibilities suggest an adherence to the Empire style, popular in the United States between 1815 and 1835. Hawkins, however, has subdued the elaborate ornamentation usually associated with Empire-style furniture. Pilasters and columns with carved Ionic and Corinthian capitals unify the top and the bottom of the two-piece bookcase, and emphasize its height. The surface is further unified by the overall pattern and rich texture of the tiger maple veneer.

Hawkins’s identification, stenciled inside the middle top drawer, reads: “William Hawkins, Manufacturer of the Most Fashionable Cabinet Furniture, on Fourth St. Between Main and Sycamore. Cincinnati, O.”