Thomas Day Antebellum Furniture ~
Thomas Day {1801-1861} was a free black furniture maker in the antebellum south. He lived in a few places in North Carolina including Caswell County and Milton and made some of the most heavily sought after furniture of his day as well as well as architectural design elements such as window framing and mantels. Even though he was considered a free black, he was still not afforded the same opportunities as white men of his day, yet he was still able to acquire a vast amount of real estate and employ up to 12 people at one time. Though he built many pieces of furniture in his time, it is important to know that he was not known to sign his pieces often, so it is very difficult to tell what pieces were actually made by Thomas Day. You can find his pieces on display throughout North Carolina and Virginia – perhaps most notably, an authenticated piece at the North Carolina Museum of History.
Thomas Day Furniture
Thomas Day furniture has been displayed at the Smithsonian Institute’s Renwick Gallery, as well as the North Carolina Museum of History. You can also find many of his pieces sill in homes in the towns where he sold them including Halifax, Va., Milton and Caswell County, NC. If you would like to learn more about Thomas Day’s life and work, I highly recommend checking out the Thomas Day Education Project.
The Thomas Day Education Project (TDEP) is a group of educators, scholars, and ordinary citizens throughout the United States that is committed to improving the teaching of African-American history and culture in K-12 education, in museums and at historic sites.
See Thomas Day Design Elements At Breezy Oaks Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast
This post was brought to you by Breezy Oaks Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast in Alton, Va., where you can see many of the design techniques that Thomas Day employed throughout the house, including double leaf doors and the mantel in the livingroom. The original section of this home was built around 1800 and is one of the only remaining plank log houses in the county. The Breezy Oaks Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast is open year round and is only a few minutes from Virginia International Raceway and a short drive from Danville, Va. To check on rates and availability, please call 434-822-5841 {if no one answers, please leave a message}.
Wow! Those our beautiful! That workmanship will last, and that wood is gorgeous! I bet it really adds to the charm and feel of the bed and breakfast.
Thanks for the interesting history of Thomas Day. He was an amazing artist. These pieces are exquisite! I love the quaint, old world charm of Breezy Oaks . What a lovely place to stay!
I just love the craftsmanship of period furniture; they truly don’t make furniture like that anymore! Thanks for sharing a peek at the antique Thomas Day pieces!
Sooo beautiful!! Love it!
Oh my goodness! Their furniture is absolutely stunning. I am in awe and in love! I love the detail, the deep dark wood color. Just amazing.
I love the older furniture and this design is wonderful. The Breezy Oaks Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast is somewhere I’d love to go for vacation. I may not want to leave.
Truly stunning pieces. It’s incredibly special to be able to stay in a place with such history in every room
What lovely furniture. It has been so long since I have seen such lovely craftsmanship. Furniture made today is so cheap. The B&B looks like a great place to stay.
That is pretty cool. So you can stay at the bed and breakfast and check out the design pieces. Love the idea!
I enjoyed reading that as a history buff. I watch Antiques Roadshow all the time and I recognize the name from a piece someone brought in for apraisal!
Oh wow! I would have loved to have seen that episode. 🙂
https://twitter.com/kSquaredGlamour/status/365812615177441280
Wonderful craftmanship, stunning furniture, and it is great that one can stay at a bed and breakfast that contains design elements of his work
Beautiful!
Absolutely gorgeous and in my backyard too!!