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.