Abstract
Lewis Buckner, a black cabinetmaker and house carpenter in Sevierville, Tennessee, constructed furniture and architectural details (interior and exterior) for families in this small Smokey Mountain community in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Six mantels from three houses are documented as having been constructed by Buckner based on the integration of corroborating evidence from written records, oral histories, and design analysis. This visual examination illustrates the commonalities between two family pieces (a mantel and dresser), for which the provenance can be well established, and the mantels as a means to establish the “authorship” of this black artisan; close agreement is revealed in the choice of motifs, arrangements, and methods of craftsmanship. Precepts of style are those of the late Victorian era.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.