Roundabout Chair

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Roundabout Chair
Datec. 1750–1800
Made inNew York , New York, United States
MediumMahogany; mahogany
Dimensions32 × 32 1/4 × 25 1/4 in. (81.3 × 81.9 × 64.1 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.401
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Drawing Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This chair back, adapted from a design by Robert Manwaring, was espoused in Newport (B.57.71), Philadelphia, and New York, each varying it slightly. Roundabouts were fashioned with either turned columnar or cabriole arm supports, mirroring the legs’ contour. The unusual foliate carved knee ornament on this example, and a related easy chair, suggests they may have been produced en suite with a set of side chairs for General Philip Schuyler.

Technical notes: Mahogany; mahogany (corner blocks),  yellow pine (slip seat). The side and rear corner blocks are quarter round, with additional support below from protruding knee brackets. The arms abut over the central cabriole support and are capped by the crest rail.

Related examples: Other furniture with related carving include Rice 1962, p. 43; Sack 1969–72, vol. 5, p. 1148, no. P4039; Scherer 1984, p. 12, no. 9. 

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.


ProvenancePossibly once belonged to Philip Schuyler (1733−1804), Albany; […]; [Israel Sack, New York, 1950]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, July 28, 1950; given to MFAH, 1969.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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