By Elise Helmers, Bowne House Executive Director, with research assistance from Charlotte Jackson, Bowne House Archivist
This month we shine a spotlight on a daybed that has become a symbol of the legacy of religious tolerance at the Bowne House.
The George Fox Daybed (Bowne House Archives)
The George Fox Daybed is currently on display in the 1661 room of the Bowne House, a historic landmark, located in Flushing, Queens. The Bowne House is the oldest surviving house in this borough, as well as the second oldest in New York City and New York State. Before the addition of adjoining rooms in the years following the site’s original construction, this space made up the entirety of the home. It functioned as the center of all daily activity for the Bowne family, as well as a meeting place for members of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. Whether this is where the daybed was situated throughout the family’s occupancy remains unknown, but the current placement of the daybed in this room can be reliably traced to the late-nineteenth century due to photographic evidence.
Constructed in the William and Mary style, the daybed is made of oak and is believed by art historian Dean Failey to have been built sometime between the years 1690 and 1730. The spherical and cylindrical shapes of the eight legs and adjoining stretchers are characteristic of the turned component parts oftentimes found in this style of furniture. Their rounded forms are mirrored in the backrest’s arched crest rail, which is flanked by urn-shaped finials. Intended for rest and relaxation, the inclined slope of the leather-covered backrest and the addition of a cushion atop the bed frame allowed for comfortable reclining after a day of arduous work. In his book Long Island Is My Nation: The Decorative Arts and Craftsmen, 1640-1830, Failey suggests the “relative simplicity of the turnings and the similarity of the stiles of the stationary back with those on locally made chairs lend support to an American attribution," but the exact origins of the daybed are currently unknown. Research relating to this piece is still ongoing and includes an upcoming wood assessment project.[i] The results of this study will potentially reveal the approximate time period, species of wood, and location in which the daybed was constructed.
In addition to its historical importance as both functional and decorative object, the centuries-old lore of the daybed is connected to one of the most significant events associated with the home and its early residents: George Fox’s visit to the Bowne House in 1672. It is well-known that Fox, a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, stayed at the house during the course of his North American travels in the early 1670s. His visit was a momentous occasion for John Bowne and his family, as Fox was effectively recognizing their residence as the center of the Quaker community in Flushing. According to later familial accounts of this occurrence, George Fox slept on the daybed during his stay. Discrepancies between the date of his visit and the estimated age of the piece raise questions about the reality of this account, but regardless of these contradictions, the story has remained important to the history of the Bowne family for nearly three centuries due to Fox’s renowned reputation. At a minimum, the daybed serves a symbolic function in reference to this historic moment.
George Fox’s visit to the American colonies was prompted by a series of events in the mid-seventeenth century, beginning with his imprisonment. In the 1650s, he was arrested in his native England for questioning common law due to his religious convictions. During the period of Fox’s incarceration, his fellow Quaker, John Perrot, proceeded to argue against a number of common practices within the Religious Society of Friends, including shaking hands at the conclusion of meetings. After Fox’s release from jail in 1666, he sought to reverse Perrot’s far-reaching influence by preaching in communities throughout the New World. According to Kenneth L. Caroll in his essay “Some Thoughts on George Fox’s Visit to America in 1672” (1972), Fox “did not come to America primarily to break new ground or to proclaim his message in areas where Quakerism had not yet appeared.” Instead, “his chief attention was given to the established Quaker communities which had been in existence for some years.” By August 1672, he and his companions had arrived in the colony of New York.
Postcard illustration of George Fox preaching between the Fox Oaks (Bowne House Archives)
Prior to his North American visit, George Fox was familiar with the Bowne family’s contributions to Quakerism, as he had met John Bowne during the course of the latter’s exile in England in 1663. As notable members of the Quaker community in Queens, their home was a logical stop on George Fox’s thirteen-month long east coast route. It was during Fox’s sojourn in Flushing that he gave his famous sermon between two oak trees on the Bowne property. According to historical accounts, the crowd of Quakers who gathered to hear him preach at the home was far too large to fit inside its relatively small interior. To accommodate the unexpected size of the group, Fox moved his speech across the street, between two large trees that later became known as the Fox Oaks. In his autobiography, George Fox recalls his visit to Flushing and this sermon: “From Oyster Bay, we passed about thirty miles to Flushing where we had a very large meeting, many hundreds of people being there; some of whom came about thirty miles to it. A glorious and heavenly meeting it was (praised be the Lord God!), and the people were much satisfied.”
The Fox Oaks Stone, c. 1907 (Bowne House Archives)
The public response to Fox’s Flushing visit is indicative of his wide-reaching influence within Quaker communities, despite ideological opposition from Perrot. Today, the memory of this event is preserved in numerous ways, including through an inscribed stone monument that designates the spot of the Fox Oaks sermon. Less officially, the George Fox Daybed has become a relic commemorating the Bowne family’s associations with the Religious Society of Friends. Notwithstanding the remaining questions concerning provenance and attribution currently being researched, by the late-nineteenth century, family members had created a type of homemade shrine for the daybed that still exists today. Visitors to the Bowne House will see the daybed arranged in the corner of the 1661 room beside the fireplace and below a portrait of George Fox.
View of the Hall, c. 1899 (Bowne House Archives)
Sources
Carroll, Kenneth L. “Some Thoughts on George Fox’s Visit to America in 1672.” Quaker History, vol. 61, no. 2, 1972, pp.82-90.
Failey, Dean. Long Island Is My Nation: The Decorative Arts & Craftsmen, 1640-1830. 2nd ed., Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, 1998.
Fox, George. George Fox: An Autobiography, edited by Rufus M. Jones. Philadelphia, Ferris & Leach, 1919, pp. 85.
Safford, Francis Gruber. American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.
Vincent, Nicholas C. “American Furniture, 1620-1730: The Seventeenth-Century and William and Mary Styles.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/will/hd_will.htm.