The Woodcarver's Art

Woodworking

From the choir stalls of Valley Forge to the pulpits and rood screens of Philadelphia's great churches — Maene's hand-carved oak and walnut work remains in active use more than a century after it was made.

"The finest examples of hand-carved wood in this country."

— On Maene's work at Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge

Woodcarving was the bedrock of Maene's training — the tradition he had absorbed in Belgium and refined in Paris before bringing it to America. His ecclesiastical woodwork spans every element of the Gothic church interior: choir stalls and screens, rood beams and pulpits, altar rails, manger sets, and decorative panelling.

What distinguished Maene's wood carving from that of his contemporaries was the combination of Gothic correctness and personal vitality. His carved foliage feels alive; his figurative panels have the weight and stillness of things that were meant to last forever. They have.

Ecclesiastical Woodwork

Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge, PA

  • Choir stalls (featuring the Valley Forge Brigades)
  • Carved screens
  • Overall interior woodwork. Completed 1913.

The masterpiece of his career — still in use and still breathtaking.

St. Clement's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia

  • Wood pulpit
  • Stations of the Cross

Part of the decade-long commission (1908–1917) that also included the stone high altar and Lady Chapel.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia (Germantown Ave.)

  • Altar
  • Screen
  • Rood beam
  • Pulpit
  • Manger set

Church records specifically credit Edward Maene. Post-death correspondence exists about the manger set.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Wilmington, DE

  • Choir stalls in oak
  • Clergy stalls in oak

Attributed to Edward Maene by historian Barksdale Maynard; church records say John Maene and Co.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Perth Amboy, NJ

  • Altar
  • Pulpit (probable)
  • Roof beam

Church records document the commission.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Bustleton, Philadelphia

  • Interior woodwork
Decorative & Domestic Woodwork

Rose Valley Furniture Workshop

  • Furniture produced in Maene's Philadelphia workshops for Will Price's Arts & Crafts community
  • Harrison Shakespeare Folio Cabinet (attributed)

The family holds Rose Valley furniture descended from Maene and a metal name stamp (E.Maene) from Rose Valley.

Private Commissions, Philadelphia

  • Gothic revival furniture for Gilded Age industrialists
  • Library panelling and overmantels
  • Carved cabinets, chairs, wardrobes, and beds

Daniel Pabst Collaboration (unconfirmed)

  • Possible collaboration on Pabst's celebrated Modern Gothic furniture

Unconfirmed but historically plausible given the overlapping era and Gothic style.