From Forest to Foyer is about an aspect of the John Brown House Museum that has long deserved greater attention: the use of mahogany wood in the furniture, paneling, and grand staircase of the house. Initially unknown to the North American colonists in 1700, by the 1750s mahogany furniture was in high demand among the wealthy and relatively affordable even to the average person. Still, the cost of this luxury product was more than just the price of a piece of furniture: rampant deforestation and an enslaved labor system defined the mahogany trade. Today mahogany trees are protected from logging in their native environment, and few remain of the species most prized in the 18th-century.
Follow the path of this valuable wood from its native environment in the Caribbean and Central and South America, where the trees were located and logged by camps of enslaved workers, and then hauled onto the ships of merchant tradesmen. Meet the Card Brothers, a pair of Rhode Islanders who relied on the mahogany trade for their livelihood. Continue along the path of these immense mahogany logs as they are shipped to the furniture workshops of highly skilled Rhode Island craftsmen, and finally to the homes of the wealthy on both sides of the Atlantic.
Explore the exhibit panels, documents, and interactive items before turning your attention to the far wall, where you will see three iconic silhouettes of 18th-century mahogany furniture: the corner chair, the secretary desk, and the tilt-top tea table.