1 Thomas Nisbet, a Saint John, New Brunswick, cabinetmaker (w. 1813-48) was unusual in that he labelled many pieces of his furniture, unlike most of his contemporary New Brunswick cabinetmakers. His paper labels not only indicated that the piece of furniture was his shop's work and gave the location of his shop, but also listed what was available in both the furniture and upholstery lines from his business — his labels were advertising rather than identification labels. Most labels used by contemporary cabinetmakers in the United States were of the identification type while British cabinetmakers tended to use the advertising type of label more extensively.

2 Published material on Nisbet up to this time has indicated that he used two labels -an early label and a later one after he and his son, Thomas Jr., formed a co-partnership in 1834 known as Thomas Nisbet & Son.1 As a result of my intensive research on his labelled furniture, it has been determined that there are really three paper labels which he used. In addition, there are three version of the second label. Knowing that a particular sequence of labels existed even though it may not be possible to determine accurately all the dates when they were used allows a person to more accurately date both the labelled furniture as well as the pieces attributed to this cabinetmaker. Based on the present knowledge I have of Nisbet's labels, I will present what appears to be the most logical sequence of use by Nisbet's cabinet shop.

3 The earliest label (ca 1815) was found on a neoclassical writing table from a Saint Andrew's home and is in the collection of the New Brunswick Museum (Fig. 1). While the remnants of the label are heavily stained and foxed, the following can still be determined. The border design is different from all other variations of his labels (Fig. 2). Nearly all the wording can be determined by extrapolation from later labels as the wording is similar on all his labels. It reads as follows:

The W in WHERE is two lines in height, being the first letter of lines one and two of the listing of goods and services offered. It could not be determined whether it reads "everything" or "every thing" as on the later labels. The major differences between this label and later labels, besides the border design, is the positioning of "Saint John. New-Brunswick" at the bottom of the label rather than after "PRINCE WILLIAM STREET;" the use of "...on moderate terms" rather than "...made on moderate terms" and "Old Furniture Repaired" rather than "Old FURNITURE Repaired or exchanged for New."

4 The second label has the characteristic linked border design (Fig. 3) which is used on all labels other than the one described previously. The wording of the first version is as follows:

The M in MATTRASSES is two lines in height.

5 The second version of this label (Fig. 4) consists of a change in how the words are positioned. While they are the same words, they are on different lines as follows:

The third version (Fig. 5) consists of a minor change on one line where "...CABINET and UPHOLSTERER" becomes "...CABINET & UPHOLSTERER."

6 The wording in the third label (1834-48), used after Thomas Jr. joined his father's business, was as follows:

The M in MATTRASSES again is two lines in height.

7 While the labels have been discussed according to what appears to be the most logical sequence, the versions of the second label could have conceivably been used in a different sequence. Further study is now required whereby the labelled furniture is grouped based on which label or variation of label is attached to them. Based on these groupings, the sequence for the labels and their versions will allow a more accurate dating of Nisbet's labelled and attributed furniture.