Limits of conservatism: cabinetmaker Adam Kersh
Date
1992
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This study examines the sources of cultural continuity for a rural craftsman in an era of industrialization. Adam Wise Kersh (1828-1905) built furniture in a cabinet shop on his family's farm in Augusta County, Virginia, from before the Civil War until his death. Kersh operated in a conservative, rural, ethnic culture that was disrupted by the war and the speculation that followed. He was able to mitigate the effects of economic change by rejecting opportunities to enlarge his shop, hire out work, or invest in power machinery. Instead, Kersh and his customers chose to sustain familiar relationships by continuing direct transactions and patronizing traditional methods of construction. Two groups of artifacts provided the evidence base for this study. The contents of Kersh's workshop were acquired by the Museum of American Frontier Culture in Staunton, Virginia, when the shop was dismantled in 1985. His craft practice was further represented by 120 pieces of attributed furniture still owned in the vicinity of Augusta County.