About The Living History Shop
We hand-build 18th century travel furnishings and field equipage to your specifications.
The Living History Shop works in close collaboration with historic sites as well as the Smithsonian Museum to research and reproduce unusual and challenging examples of historic technology specific to the 1740-1790 time period.
Because of the increasing complexity and scope of our projects, we will no longer be printing a catalog. Simply call or email us with your needs or to obtain current prices and delivery schedule.
Curators of historic sites can obtain — with permission from sites in possession — reproductions of some of George Washington’s personal campaign furniture and accessories, including his: Folding Field Bedsteads, Mess Kit, Stool, Liquor Chest, Shaving Kit, large Storage Box, Luggage and Writing Case.
All items are made from original examples I have seen and documented and employ construction details of the original. Iron keyed locks are used on chest lids and drawers. Hand forged iron work is made to our specifications by Jeff Miller (Flintlock Forge).
Examples include:
- Wooden chests with dovetail or lap joints, forged iron or rope handles, snipe or strap hinges, painted or not
- Pine topped tables with scissor leg or sawbuck design (2″ X-legs with streacher between)
- Pine plank benches
- Pine bench Shaving Horse
- Red oak open frame wheelbarrows with solid (non-spoked) wheel standard
- Red oak standard size ( 1 3/4″ thick frame) four spoke wheelbarrows with or without sides 1/2″ thick
- White oak heavy duty wheelbarrows using 2″ thick stock for frame and 3/4″ thick sides and bottom – four spoke wheel
- 17-18th century Miner Style Wheelbarrow (from Diderot) with four spoked wheel in red or white oak 3/4″ sides
- Walnut folding officers bedstead in single or double width complete with bed curtains, mattress, and storage chest
- Walnut officers grade Chippendale style folding table with matching upholstered stool including custom canvas case
- Walnut or maple Georgian period folding chair upholstered in leather
- The best wooden handled table top brazier made
- Officer grade Mess Kit Canteen
- Wine crates with or without blown bottles
- Wine chest with blown bottles and glasses of officer grade in iron clasped walnut and with hand made lock
- Sundry small items such as lidded pine Tavern Tankards, Tape Looms, and curly maple Lanterns
Portfolio
The Princeton homestead named Rockingham served as General George Washington’s final headquarters during the American Revolution. It was here he awaited the Treaty of Paris, the official paperwork that would end the war and grant America formal sovereignty.
Furnishings below are part of the extensive collection of Washington’s field furnishings created for Rockingham Historic Site in 2005-2006. The State of New Jersey commissioned the Living History Shop, in cooperation with the Smithsonian and Mt. Vernon, to reproduce many of Washington’s personal campaign furnishings for Rockingham.
Washington Mess Kit (canteen) duplicated from original in the Smithsonian. Intricate and detailed construction including hand-blocked wallpaper, green felt lining, and intricate system of precisely fitted compartments.
Washinton’s four nested cooking pots with detachable handles. Mess kit (canteen) tinware by tinsmith, Carl Giordano.
Shaving Box used by George Washington that carried seven daily straight razors in mahogany wood, silk lined. Duplicated from original in Mt. Vernon.
The FINAL HEADQUARTERS: ROCKINGHAM project by the LIVING HISTORY SHOP, 2006, installed at Rockingham in Kingston New Jersey, was made possible by the Public Buildings Arts Inclusion Act of 1978. The Arts Inclusion program is administered by the NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS. Funding for this project was provided by the NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION and administered by the NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & CONSTRUCTION.
Organizations:
Rockingham Historic Site
Smithsonian
Mt. Vernon
Artisans:
Carl Giordano, Tinsmith
Steve & Katie Freede, The Trunk Shoppe
Jeff Miller, Flintlock Forge
John Pierce & Dave Byerly, P&B Glassworks
Frank Willis
Tricia & Rick Toone, Fine Art & Photography
DELAWARE VALLEY MID-18TH CENTURY SAWBUCK TABLE
Delaware Valley mid-18th Century Sawbuck Table with Windsor Green painted legs using Rockler authentic color. Shown also is a correct pine plank bench with split off tapered oak legs that easily knock out for storage/traveling.
• Standard 1” thick 48” X 32” top shown on table — $330
• 48” long Bench — $90
With two benches you have comfortable seating for four people
BATTEN (BREAD) BOARD EDGE
Solid wood swells with humidity and shrinks across the grain when dry. This movement of the wood produces cracks if the wide wooden top of a table is secured to the finishing end board (bread board attached to hide end grain) and the batten attached under the top to provide additional strength by multiple fasteners.
Some early furniture builders solved this problem by making the joint that attaches the bread board end and the batten by a long “dovetail” joint. The batten or bread board is kept from sliding off the top by a single peg into the the table top and now the expansion/contraction takes place at will with no constraint. A 30” wide pine top will contract nearly 1/2 inch from my New Jersey summer shop weather to California or Arizona dryness on even in a heated house in the winter.
You can see this dovetail joint in the picture as well as the pin that secures the stretcher between the “X” legs of my Saw Buck table.
VALLEY FORGE WHEELBARROW & TABLE
Recent projects completed for Valley Forge National Historic Park. Heavy duty White Oak Wheelbarrow and Scissor Leg Table with standard one inch thick top. Both pictured on location. (photos courtesy VFNHP)
PORTRAITS
