By the late seventeenth century, French explorers had traversed what would become the state of Indiana, and by the end of the eighteenth century, French fur-trading posts and small settlements dotted the landscape of the Mississippi River's upper valley, a large territory known as the Illinois Country. Vincennes was the principal settlement in the area. Its population of more than four hundred residents lived a surprisingly refined style of life that included silver spoons, jewelry, and silk clothing. Settled largely by immigrants from French Canada, Vincennes retained a distinctly French character in its architecture and material culture into the early nineteenth century.

This buffet is strongly reminiscent of French provincial furniture made in Normandy and elsewhere at a much earlier date. Its sturdy construction and decorative detail, including the form of the paneled doors, the carved sunburst ornament in the center of the skirt, and the shape of the curved skirt and feet, clearly align it with the style of Louis XV. It is fashioned, however, from local woods and retains its original finish of red ocher (iron oxide) paint enriched with streaks of a darker pigment.

This text was adapted from Ward, et al., MFA Highlights: American Decorative Arts & Sculpture (Boston, 2006) available at www.mfashop.com/mfa-publications.html.

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