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Thomas Elfe (1719–1775) was a successful colonial period furniture craftsman in Charleston, South Carolina. == Biography == Elfe was born in 1719 in London, England. He was an accomplished and prolific furniture and cabinet craftsman of the American colonial period. Elfe, a contemporary of Thomas Chippendale, was considered Charleston's best furniture craftsman of the eighteenth century. His working career spanned almost thirty years from about 1746 to 1775. At one point in has career his personal worth was a fortune of over 6,200 English pounds. Local Charleston historian and one time director of the Charleston Museum, E. Milby Burton (1889–1977), attributed Elfe as the craftsman of some of the finest nationally acclaimed furniture produced. Burton's research of Charleston furniture craftsmen revealed Elfe as the most successful and famous furniture craftsman in the eighteenth century.〔 "Thomas Elfe was Charleston's most famous and successful cabinetmaker, and his surviving pieces are among the most valuable of American antiques."〕 Elfe immigrated from England in the 1740s and first went to Virginia. From there right around 1746 he moved to Charleston. In 1747 he ran an ad in the South Carolina Gazette for a pair of gilted large carved scones; "To be Raffled for, On Tuesday the 6th of October in the Evening, at the House of Mr. Thomas Blyth in Broad-street a pair of large Gilt Sconces, valued at 150£ Currency. The said Sconces and the Conditions of the Raffle may be seen at Mr. Thomas Elfe's Cabinet-maker, near Doctor Martini's." The £150 value would be several thousand dollars in the twentieth century. In the mid-eighteenth century "Charles Town" was an economic booming city, the average resident citizens being several times wealthier on the whole than those of New York or Philadelphia. Providing furniture to these wealthy Charlestonians was a lucrative business for the local wood craftsmen and cabinetmakers. The people of Charleston considered themselves as English citizens that just happened to be living in the American colony of South Carolina and did everything possible to follow the footsteps of London society, like acquiring fine furniture. The wealthy Charlestonians loved London style furnishings and would purchase most anything along these fashions that was hand made by local woodworkers. This booming economy made Elfe's woodworking shop successful and profitable. An Elfe's business account book of transactions survives and is held by the Charleston Library Society. This accounting book covering several accounts shows that between 1768 and 1775 Elfe with several employees hand-made over fifteen-hundred furniture pieces including fine detailed cabinets. These records show that he sold about seventeen pieces of furniture per month on average. Elfe's work was influenced by Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779). Their lives had many parallels. Both were born in England at about the same time and both had their childhood in London. Both apprenticed in London in the 1730s. Elfe apprenticed under his uncle. Chippendale apprenticed under his father. Elfe married in 1748, as did Chippendale, and both were eventually widowed. Both were eventually remarried and had a second wife. Both had a son named Thomas who took over their furniture business. Both lived during the tempestuous times leading to the American Revolution without being personally affected. Both had large furniture shops with many employees. Both died within four years of one another. Elfe was also a close friend of Charleston joiner and carver Thomas Watson. He learned many of Watson's woodworking skills. When Watson died in 1747, he left Elfe his estate and personal belongings. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Elfe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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