In founding the Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony in 1902, Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead and Jane Byrd McCall Whitehead sought to foster creative artistic collaboration and experimentation in an idyllic setting. They built rustic cabins in the Catskill Mountains of Woodstock, New York, and invited writers, painters, photographers, and craftspeople to use them as workshops and studios. The Whiteheads financed the start of the colony, hoping that craft sales would ultimately support the community.

Although some of the workshops profited, the furniture enterprise failed, closing in 1905. Fewer than fifty pieces were produced, including this massive dark-stained cabinet. The piece's simple, rectilinear form and solid construction adhere to the Arts and Crafts principles promoted by the Whiteheads, and the naturalistic carved decoration on the doors lightens its visual weight. The flowering tulip poplar motif is accented with transparent stains that allow the grain of the wood to show through, adding organic rhythm and movement to the design. Two related drawings survive (also in the MFA): one illustrating the cabinet's form and one outlining the tulip poplar panel design. Both are signed by Edna Walker, a trained artist who joined the Byrdcliffe community in the summer of 1903.

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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