Thomas Hall, Carver

The all-wood decorative carvings on the front door and in the dining room of Hammond-Harwood House astonish us with their graceful beauty and the intricacy of the designs. A study by Luke Beckerdite in the November 1982 issue of the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts identifies the carver of the door and dining room as Thomas Hall, an indentured artisan from England in service to architect William Buckland.

The dining room cornice, fireplace mantle chimney piece, overmantle, shutters, and door surrounds were all executed by Hall. The designs and methods mirror those seen at Chase-Lloyd House across Maryland Avenue. Buckland and his crew worked there before being hired by Matthias Hammond to design and build Hammond-Harwood House in 1774. Thomas Hall is the carver named as working with Buckland during his 1771-1773 time at Chase-Lloyd.

Bird heads and necks that transform with a swoosh into acanthus leaves feature in the dining room designs. This motif is seen on the door friezes and the mantle chimney piece. In his article Beckerdite compares the design and modeling techniques of the birds in the two houses; he notes that the eyes, feathers, and beaks are shaped similarly and were likely carved in a similar fashion. Acanthus leaves both by themselves and extended into scrolls are a constant feature and beautifully executed.

The cascading flowers and leaves that adorne the famous Hammond-Harwood House door are also attributed to Hall. The flower petals there and on the chimney mantlepiece in the dining room share a like form. Beckerdite speculates that since there are some differences of style, it’s possible that some of the front door decorative carving was completed by James Reynolds, another carver listed in Buckland’s inventory of 1774; Reynolds may have taken over Hall’s work after Hall’s indenture was completed.

Who designed these decorations? Buckland probably drew the ornaments. Design books by Abraham Swan served as inspiration for Georgian motifs. But with Buckland’s death in 1774, Hall would have had more input; the carver was the one interpreting the drawings as he worked with specialized tools and a trained eye.

Buckland began his work in Virginia as an indentured artisan. After his term with George Mason, he went on to become a successful architect. That he assembled a corps of trained artisans to carry out his ambitious project for Matthias Hammond shows the influence of the indenture system in bringing this level of achievement to America. Thomas Hall signed a first indenture and after he completed the term, he signed another – with Buckland – and was paid ten shillings per week due to his “masterly hand.” Although he ran away in 1771, he was returned to Buckland, who brought Hall with him when he came to Annapolis in 1772.

By Barbara Goyette,

Hammond-Harwood House Executive Director