SOFA

With a clear line of descent in the Greever family of Chilhowie, Smyth County, Virginia, this classically inspired sofa can be attributed John Erhart Rose, a Philadelphia-trained carver and cabinetmaker who worked in both Knoxville, Tennessee, and Abingdon, Virginia.  In 1825 Rose advertised in the Knoxville Register “Gilding, Burnishing, Carving and Cabinet Work of Every Description.”  Colonel Hiram Greever’s (1806 - 1882) house in Chilhowie was less than twenty miles from Rose’s Abingdon shop, and the carved eagle heads on the legs of the sofa were a trademark of Rose’s work. The sofa retains its original horsehair upholstery.