The earliest form of American Gothic case design was conceived by Elias Ingraham at Bristol, Connecticut, c. 1840. Subsequently copied and made in large quantities by other firms, it was usually constructed with a mahogany veneer applied to a glued pine frame. J. C. Brown at his Forestville Manufacturing Co. Made a limited number, c. 1848-52, in artistically cut fronts, known today as 'rippled fronts'. About 1880 a design patent was issued for an ogee-moulded base, and at this date the E. N. Welch Manufacturing Co. Offered this with a single glass door through which a simulated mercury pendulum was visible. This style in both a full rounded top and Gothic form was continued until c. 1890. The earlier form of Gothic rounded arch is referred to among present-day collectors as 'beehive' because of its similarity to the old straw beehives.