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Cummings, Abbott Lowell. "The Beginnings of Provincial

Renaissance Architecture in Boston, 16901725." Society

for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, (March

Architectural styles within the New England region during the early colonial period in American history varied somewhat, but were relatively English in nature. In the late seventeenth century, during the period of initial settlement into the Massachusetts Bay region, most of the stylistic and improvisational structures were strictly patterned after styles from England  a fact not lost on the early colonists themselves. Moreover, it is possible to evaluate the transition from English style to colonial style during the first fifty years of an urban area such as Boston by detailing the changes and innovations brought about by new English artisans.

Abbott Lowell Cummings, Executive Director of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, has extensively written on the subject of colonial art and architecture.1 In the 1983 article, "The Beginnings of Provincial Renaissance Architecture in Boston, 16901725,"

Cummings presents an overview of the initial, postmedieval styles that were common in colonial Boston before 1680. After

1 A sampling of his works include: "The FosterHutchinson House," Old Time New England, set 195, (Jan.March 1954); and "Decorative Painters and House Painting at Massachusetts Bay, 16301725," American Painting to 1776: A Reappraisal, ed. Ian M.G. Quimby, (Charlottesville, 1971).

this date, however, a gradual change began to take place when English artisans, many with cultured London backgrounds, began to immigrate into the colonies. Most interesting is that "virtually all of the building trades are represented . . . including carpenters, masons, bricklayers, joiners, plasterers, carvers, and painters."2

Since the great majority of these artisans had been trained in London, they showed a particular aff...