AFFLECK, THOMASBORN 1745, ABERDEEN, ABERDEENSHIRE, SCOT.

died 1795, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. American cabinetmaker considered to be outstanding among the Philadelphia craftsmen working in the Chippendale style during the 18th century. Probably trained in England, Affleck settled in Philadelphia in 1763, producing tables, chairs, sofas, and case furniture for Governor John Penn and other leading Philadelphia citizens. A Royalist sympathizer, Affleck was arrested as a Tory in 1777 and banished to Virginia for more than seven months. His son, Lewis G. Affleck, unsuccessfully attempted to maintain the business after his father's death. Works attributed to Affleck, showing the Marlborough-style leg (a straight, grooved type having a block foot) and elaborate carving characterizing his work, are in the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.