After roughing out a design sketch for a potential piece, the next task was to craft a prototype. Initially, Emmett Eldred and Walter Holmes were responsible for prototyping. Emmett always viewed Eldred Wheeler as an extension of his interest in American country high-style furniture, so it is no surprise that he felt great attachment to many of the prototypes and retain many of them. Since he tended to view each piece as a potential family heirloom, he made sure the choicest stock was used. Some prototypes were never put into production.

Prototypes

Walter was the more experienced woodworker and a wonderful carver, so he fairly quickly took over the prototyping of new products. Emmett focused more on crafting pieces that might be a new product but more likely would be something to furnish their home. The secondary wood on many prototypes was left unfinished, but in some instances, it was stained or in the earliest examples made from old wood.

Colonial Williamsburg Prototypes: Colonial Williamsburg contacted Eldred Wheeler in 1986 about possibly reproducing some country style furniture from their Abby Aldrich Folk Art Collection. However, we were a bit surprised that that approached us because we always associated Colonial Williamsburg with Kittinger furniture and wondered why they were contacting another furniture company. Of course, Kittinger focused on crafting formal mahogany reproductions so maybe reproducing country style pieces was something they were not interested in doing. More

Nantucket Historical Society Pieces: Eldred Wheeler made several pieces for the Nantucket Historical Society (NHS). Their collection was not that extensive, so many were designed to reflect a Nantucket heritage but were not really copied from an existing piece. We became involved with the NHS through Gracie Grossman. She and her husband Bernie were very active on Nantucket. More

Bermuda Blanket Chest: Emmett had always wanted a Bermuda blanket chest, especially a smaller example, since Bermuda pieces tended to be fairly large. He almost purchased one from a noted Pennsylvania dealer but just couldn’t bring himself to meet the hefty price tag. He finally realized his best option to have one of these blanket chests would be to craft it himself. It wouldn’t be an antique, but he could design the piece to have all of the features he found most desirable. Also, Eldred Wheeler was looking for some new products, and he thought the blanket chest might be a possibility. More

Bermuda Blanket Chest with Drawer: Emmett decided to craft another small Bermuda blanket chest. It was patterned after an antique he had recently considered purchasing. He especially liked the piece because it was small in size and also had a drawer. Design-wise, he only modified the skirt and altered the proportions of the antique. It’s small size (29 inches wide) almost qualifies it as a “child’s banket chest”. Even so, it fits perfectly at the foot of the queen-sized bed. Eldred Wheeler considered the chest as a potential new product but was currently distracted by an addition to its shop. More

Butler’s Chest Carson: During the three years leading up to its closing in 2019, Eldred Wheeler was searching for potential new product offerings. Interest in 18th century American furniture had been steady declining for more than a decade. That was especially true for “brown furniture” - a term describing formal pieces made from mahogany or walnut. Fortunately, Eldred Wheeler worked primarily in lighter woods like tiger maple and cherry. That helped somewhat in terms of demand, but the company’s sales had fallen significantly. Emmett had maintained contact with the company over the years and would occasionally offer suggestions for furniture or accessories that he felt might compliment their core product line. In this PDF he discusses an English butler’s chest prototype he crafted as a possible limited edition offering. More 

Carson’s Friend Harry: A member of the woodworking group I belonged to in Savannah was originally from England, and I asked him if he was interested in crafting an English butler’s chest I was thinking of building. He had a complete woodworking shop, but I only had a crude workbench and a few hand tools in my garage, so I hoped he would take me up on my offer. Thankfully, he immediately volunteered to tag-team on the project, and we started almost immediately. More