Side Chair (one of a pair)

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Side Chair (one of a pair)
Datec. 1810–1820
Made inNew York , New York, United States
MediumMahogany; ash
Dimensions33 5/8 × 18 1/4 × 20 1/4 in. (85.4 × 46.4 × 51.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.87.2
Non exposé

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Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Adaptation of the flowing lines of the Grecian prototype klismos chair was most successful in this New York scroll-back model, which first appeared in the second decade of the nineteenth century. In a departure from antique models, the spread-wing eagle, ubiquitous symbol of the American nation, has been introduced as the stay rail. The bold, stylized carving of the eagle and leafage is typical of New York design of the 1810s and early 1820s. While a number of variations on the eagle-stay rail theme exist, there is no known design source for this type of chair, nor any mention of it in the price books.

Technical notes: Mahogany; ash (front and rear seat rails). Both chairs have repaired breaks at the crest and stay rail joints, and B.69.87.2 has had its right front and rear legs repaired. 

Related examples: Five virtually identical examples are at Winterthur (Montgomery 1966b, no. 76); one that is very similar but different in the carved details is at Yale (Kane 1975, no. 155). Related chairs: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc. no. M.82.125); Indianapolis Museum of Art (acc. no. 78.158); advertisement of Israel Sack, Antiques 136 (July 1989), p. 49; Gordon-Banks House, Milledgeville, Georgia (Farnham 1972, p. 441).
 
Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


Provenance[Howard “Harry” Arons (1906–2000), Ansonia, Connecticut, by November 5, 1938]; [Ginsburg & Levy, New York, November 5, 1938–May 16, 1943]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, May 16, 1943; given to MFAH, prior to 1969.
Exhibition History
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1810–1820
Mahogany; ash
B.69.87.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1810–1825
Mahogany, ebony, and rosewood; ash, eastern white pine, and brass
B.69.72.2
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c. 1785–1820
Mahogany and holly; ash
B.92.11.2
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany and holly; ash
B.92.11.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany; eastern white pine, ash, beech, birch, and hard maple
B.69.376.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1785–1799
Mahogany and ebony; eastern white pine, ash, and soft maple
B.61.92.1
scan from file photograph
c. 1785–1799
Mahogany and ebony; eastern white pine, ash, and soft maple
B.61.92.2
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1810–1825
Mahogany, ebony, and rosewood; ash, eastern white pine, and brass
B.69.72.1
scan from file photograph
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany; eastern white pine, ash, beech, birch, and hard maple
B.69.376.2
Side Chair
c. 1810–1820
Mahogany and mahogany veneer; cherry and ash
B.68.14.1
Side Chair
c. 1810–1820
Mahogany and mahogany veneer; with cherry and ash
B.68.14.2
Side Chair
c. 1815–1820
Mahogany and mahogany veneer; ash and white oak
B.63.22.1