Antique Spotlight: Duncan Phyfe Furniture

A Scottish immigrant who came to the United States in 1784, Duncan Phyfe studied woodworking and cabinetry to become one of the most well-known furniture makers of the era. By the early 1800s this craftsman was incorporating designs that were popular in Europe and reproducing these styles domestically, adding his own elegant touches and personal details. Today his furniture pieces are highly-regarded and very valuable, with some of his furniture making it into the finest museums in the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Here we’ll discuss the history and value of these pieces, as well as what to look out for if you are interested in buying this style of furniture.

Duncan Phyfe History

Duncan Phyfe lived and worked in Albany, then moved to New York City in 1793. His workshop in what later became Fulton Street operated until his retirement in 1847 when he was in his 70s. He specialized in Neoclassical, Grecian, Regency, and Federal styles with an emphasis on quality. He also brought his sons into the firm before the business was sold. Phyfe was inspired by the furniture makers George Hepplewhite (died 1786) and Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) and you will sometimes find styles/pieces called by the names Hepplewhite, Sheraton, or Duncan Phyfe interchangeably when attribution isn’t known.

Phyfe’s distinctive embellishments add an air of class to his furniture items, which makes sense when you consider that he was creating these tables, chairs, and sofas for wealthy East Coast and Southern families. These elite tastemakers could choose between the massive cost of importing European furniture or employing Phyfe and his workshop to make high-end pieces that were still reasonable in cost. Given this it’s no wonder his furniture caught on and was a massive success in the early 1800s and beyond. He was a favorite of the wealthy business magnate, John Jacob Astor (1864-1912) which gave the style even more popularity.

His Signature Designs

Some of the Phyfe signature designs used mahogany, cherry, walnut, and fine burl wood in the same pieces to create subtle contrast in colors. This is a technically difficult task, ensuring the understated luxury of the pieces shone through in the quality of his materials and workmanship.

There are some other signature elements that Phyfe used again and again in his pieces. Graceful curved lines to his table lags and sofa backs were not only easy on the eyes, they also took more skill to create. His pieces are well known to be not only beautiful, but they are also very sturdy and easy to use.

He also embraced the motif of the harp (or lyre), which is seen on both the bases of his dining tables and on the chair backs that accompanied them. One of the biggest Duncan Phyfe details is his use of brass feet on both dining tables and on seating options. Often these brass feet were in the shape of lion paws, but over the years he also used casters and laurel leaves, as well as other styles for the feet. His Federal style pieces often incorporated eagles in the form of carvings.

Duncan Phyfe Style

Because of the broad appeal of his style, Duncan Phyfe’s work is some of the most copied that you can find in antique and secondhand stores. There was a resurgence in popularity for this style of furniture starting in the early 1900s, though other furniture makers copied his designs all throughout the 1800s. You can find many antiques that are genuinely old parading as original Duncan Phyfe pieces. In many families the furniture was passed down along with the name, the family members never even knowing who the original maker was.

It’s important to note that the vast majority pieces labeled Duncan Phyfe in resale and antique shops are actually copies from later eras. These were not necessarily intended to fool anyone, but the provenance was lost and now the only thing that remains is the style name. Pieces that are in the style should be labeled as “Duncan Phyfe style”, but this isn’t always made clear. And, to make matters even more complicated there are still copies of this insanely popular style being made today!

Value and Identifying Features

There are an abundance of these copies out there, and like all goods there are different levels of quality. A very high quality Duncan Phyfe style dining set can sell for $5,000 or more. But, most of the copies out there are not of this level. To distinguish between late 18th/early 19th century pieces look for classic construction that is never joined by screws. Phyfe pieces will also be balanced both physically and visually, so unstable tabletops indicate a much lower quality of work. Poorly-made details are the first clue that a piece is not original. Likewise visible screws, poorly placed nails, cheap upholstery fabrics, or extensive repairs also indicate that the pieces are unlikely to be true Duncan Phyfe.

Some of the most common pieces of both real Duncan Phyfe and of the copies are card tables that extend, dining tables with chairs, and side tables. It’s important to note that during his lifetime Phyfe also made a variety of types of furniture pieces such as china cabinets, cribs, ladies’ work tables, sofas, and upholstered chairs. Pinpointing the value of this style can be very difficult owing to the huge number of copies and range of work out there.

Genuine pieces of Duncan Phyfe furniture that are large, like a dining table, can sell for many thousands and up while lesser copies that are smaller can go for as little $50. A ladies sewing table of the era (labeled as possibly Duncan Phyfe) sold in 2022 for $18,750 while a set of upholstered chairs that was successfully traced back to Phyfe sold in 2017 for $62,500.

The price range here is huge so for the best value look at the quality and condition of each item. The higher the quality -regardless of the year it was produced- the higher the price you can expect to pay. Sadly, there is no maker’s mark that identifies authentic Duncan Phyfe pieces. If you love this style look for markers of quality workmanship as attribution to the famed cabinetmaker himself is uncommon to say the least.