by Thomas R.J. Newbern and James R. Melchor

The mystery of the "WH" cabinetmaker has been solved. For forty years furniture scholars have puzzled over a compelling group of furniture made during the 1780s and 90s in eastern North Carolina with the initials "WH" prominently - and perplexingly - displayed on their pediments. Who made the furniture? Who or what was "WH"? Many theories were put forward, but none solved the mystery until now.

WH Cabinetmaker, A Southern Mystery Solved by Thomas R.J. Newbern and James R. Melchor, answers the riddle of who made the WH furniture and who or what the initials "WH" represent. In the process the authors reveal the story of the WH Cabinetmaker's business partners, patrons, and family as well as presenting a new vision for understanding the building and cabinetmaker trades in the lower Roanoke River Basin during the late eighteenth century.

WH Cabinetmaker is a decorative arts book written as a story. The authors expertly quide the reader through the mystery, which includes a host of characters and a setting that is partially obscured by a two-hundred-year-old mist but illuminated with beautiful color photographs. Anyone with an interest in furniture history will be capitvated. Everyone with an interest in the material culture of the eary American South will be enthralled.

2009; softcover; 294 pages; 428 photographs, most in color.
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