GROUP OF BILLS TOGETHER WITH A LARGE BELL

Two bills dated 1793 for the production of coffins to cabinetmaker David Evans and a bell, American, circa 1820.

Museum of Mourning Art, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

The two bills written out to the estate of Jacob Graff, a clockmaker, to David Evans, a Phildalphia cabinetmaker for the construction of two coffins. Evans turned from typical furniture construction, to the more profitable work of producing coffins and other household necessities like Venetian blinds after the 1780s. For more on David Evans, see Eleanore P. Gadsden, “When Good Cabinetmakers Made Bad Furniture: The Career and Work of David Evans,” in American Furniture, edited by Luke Beckerdite (Hanover and London: Chipstone Foundation, distributed by University Press of New England, 2001) pp. 65-87.

The bill read: 

Jacob Graff's Estate Do to David Evans/ 1793 July 5th To a walnut Coffin for Henry Beners/Child made in best manner L1=15 

Jacob Graffs Estate Do to David Evans/June 13th 1793/To a Walnut Coffin for John Sowers Child L=10-3-5