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FOR MANY YEARS, American 19th-Century furniture has been overlooked, while furniture of earlier periods commands the highest prices at auction. Empire furniture, in particular, has never been popular. This is hard to understand, since the furniture itself, dating from the 1820s and the 1830s, is graceful and well designed and uses the finest mahogany and rosewood veneers. It is far simpler-and often more appealing-than the French Empire and English Regency furniture upon which it is based. Ormolu is hardly ever used, and all excess has been avoided.
Of the cabinetmakers who specialized in the style, the best known, and certainly the finest craftsman, was Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854) of New York City. Born in Scotland, he...