Background
It is difficult to find the simplest facts about his birth and early life. Probably he was born in 1721 or 1722 in Pennsylvania, United States.
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William Savery
Edit ProfileEducation
While nothing is known of his education or training in his craft, his designs reveal his indebtedness to those early books of design, published in the eighteenth century in England, such as the several volumes by Thomas Chippendale and by Robert Manwaring. He is supposed to have been self-educated in his trade.
Probably, he served a 7-year apprenticeship under the Philadelphia cabinetmaker Solomon Fussell, beginning in 1735.
Career
Savery is believed to have gone to Philadelphia about 1740, and he is known to have served as assessor of the central wards of that city in 1754 and to have been an agent and collector of taxes for the guardians of the poor of Philadelphia in 1767.
In the Francis White's Philadelphia Directory (1785) he is described as "chair maker. " The discovery of a little printed business label, containing his name and address, attached to a fine specimen of furniture, which is now in the Manor House at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, marked the beginning of his modern fame as a craftsman.
His shop in Philadelphia, according to his label, was "at the sign of the chair, a little below the Market, in Second Street, Philadelphia" , which location, through deeds, has been identified with the present property, No. 17 South Second St.
The examples of his work in the Palmer Collection prove him to have been an artist. While undoubtedly owing an obligation to books of design, including those of Batty Langley, he was sufficiently an artist to naturalize and interpret them in an original manner. There is considerable carving in his mahogany pieces, but for the great part his furniture has simple and pure lines, making for dignity and richness.
Regarding himself as primarily a chair maker, he excelled in the manufacture of this article of furniture. Some of his chairs, which have been identified, are of great beauty and simplicity, all of them showing an English tendency, but with the added Savery touch that gives them an independent character.
The records of the Monthly Meeting show that he was buried May 28, 1787, when his age was recorded as 65 years.
Achievements
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William Savery is noted for his furniture in the Queen Anne and Philadelphia Chippendale styles. His work has caused the Philadelphia furniture of the colonial period, especially from 1760 to 1775, to be highly regarded by experts, as exhibiting the greatest degree of elaboration and ornateness found in American furniture.
Works
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Religion
He was a devout Quaker.
Personality
Skilled artist, as William undoubtedly was, he did not feel it beneath his dignity to repair chairs, and do other odd jobs pertaining to joinery.
Quotes from others about the person
According to Halsey post, William was alluded to as "one of our greatest colonial cabinet-makers".
Connections
Savery married, according to the records of the Society of Friends, to Mary Peters, the daughter of Reese Peters, in Philadelphia on April 19, 1746. The records of the Monthly Meeting show him to have been the father of eleven children. Their son, William Jr. , became a notable Quaker preacher and abolitionist. Their other son, Thomas, continued in the furniture trade.
