Book Talk:The ‘Rather Elegant’ Furniture of Milton’s Isaac Vose

The Milton Historical Society presents local author, furniture
conservator and scholar Robert Mussey Jr. to discuss his book he
coauthored with Clark Pearse, “Rather Elegant Than Showy: The Classical
Furniture of Isaac Vose.” The lecture will be held on Thursday, November
29, 2018 at 7 p.m. at the Keys Conference Room at the Milton Public
Library, 476 Canton Ave., Milton, MA. The event is free and open to the
public. The library is also a co-sponsor.

Although virtually forgotten for approximately 200 years, Milton
Village native Isaac Vose built a substantial business empire in Boston
and made furniture for the most prominent Boston families.

“Isaac Vose was well known in his day among style-conscious
Bostonians, his name synonymous with furniture of the highest quality
and advanced design. His shop, the ‘first on Boston Neck,’ was in a
prominent location and served as a familiar landmark in his South End
neighborhood. Throughout the 1820s, 1830s, and as late as 1843, some
nineteen years after Vose's death, auction advertisements explicitly
cited his name as the maker of select furniture, with the association
connoting quality and calculated to increase its sale price. This book
gathers in one volume the known works of Vose as well as those
attributed to him, and it is gorgeously illustrated throughout,” wrote
the authors.

Isaac Vose was born in 1767 to Samuel Vose (b.1730–d.1804) and his
wife, Sarah Kenney Vose (b.1732–d.1777), of nearby Stoughton.

Isaac Vose’s earliest years were spent at his father’s inn at 5
Canton Ave., at the corner of Adams Street in Milton Village. In 1767
Samuel Vose had purchased 5 Canton Ave. where he built the inn which he
operated with his brother-in-law Joseph Cummings, who briefly held half
interest in the property. Samuel Vose later sold the property to Dr.
Samuel Glover who rented it to Henry Vose. For several years Henry Vose
operated it as the “Green Dragon Tavern.” Following his success with the
‘Green Dragon,’ Henry Vose moved his tavern operations to Boston.

When the inn was purchased by Moses Whitney it became known as the
“Rising Sun.” By 1900 the former tavern had been remodeled by the Gordon
family for business use with rooms for rent above. The location was
known as Gordon’s Corner for some time. Apartments were still being
occupied until shortly before the structure was demolished in 1954. The
site then became a funeral home for more than 60 years.

The author, Robert D. Mussey Jr., founded the furniture conservation
laboratory at Society at the Preservation of New England Antiquities in
Boston in 1982. Now retired, he was founder and principal of Robert
Mussey Associates, which provides comprehensive furniture conservation
services to museums, private collectors, and historic houses. He has
published widely in museum journals on a variety of furniture
conservation topics, is author of The Furniture Masterworks of John and
Thomas Seymour, and curator of a major museum exhibition of the Seymours
work. Now retired, he is at work on a study of the earliest
introduction of woodworking machinery in the furniture making trades.

Co-author Clark Pearce advises and brokers art and antiques to a
group of clients with far-ranging interests. He helps define and shape
their collections in logical ways, building on their particular
interests and strengths. His specialty is American furniture, and also
works with early silver, ceramics, paintings and other decorative arts
from the early 18th century through the 19th century. As an independent
scholar he does primary historical research on many topics related to
American decorative arts. He has published many articles in scholarly
journals and magazines, with a chapter in the upcoming book Four
Centuries of Massachusetts Furniture.

The Milton Historical Society is a non-profit organization, founded
in 1904 to collect, preserve, publish and exhibit artifacts and records
relating to the town of Milton. The Suffolk Resolves House, 1370 Canton
Avenue, Milton MA, is the headquarters of the Milton Historical Society
and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its
significance in American political history. If you’re interested in
becoming a supporter or active member in the Milton Historical Society
please go to http://www.miltonhistoricalsociety.org/join.html.