Settee

Settee

Public Domain

Settee
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Settee
Datec. 1800–1820
Probable placePennsylvania, United States
MediumSoft maple, red oak, white oak, and hickory. Old but not original green paint.
Dimensions32 1/2 × 45 × 21 1/2 in. (82.6 × 114.3 × 54.6 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.426
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Glazed Porch
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This unusual settee, with its bentwood crest rail, relates in design and construction to cradles or cribs. The overall concept echoes as well the design of rod-back chairs and settees of the early nineteenth century, especially those made in Pennsylvania.

Technical notes: Soft maple (main corner posts, legs), red oak (crest rail), white oak (stretchers), hickory (spindles). Old but not original green paint.

Related examples: Earlier versions: MMA (acc. no. 34.100.26); Santore 1981, nos. 185, 186. 

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.


ProvenanceJacob Paxson Temple (1880–1924), Tanguy, Pennsylvania; consigned to [American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, The Jacob Paxson Temple Collection, January 16, 1922, lot 1192]; purchased through Wayman Adams (1883–1959) as agent for Miss Ima Hogg, 1922; given to MFAH, 1969.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Armchair
Armchair
c. 1790–1800
Eastern white pine, soft maple, white oak, mahogany, and ash. Old but not original green paint.
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Armchair
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c. 1770–1785
Yellow-poplar, soft maple, red oak, and hickory (both handholds are replacements made of ash)
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Francis Trumble
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c. 1760–1770
Yellow-poplar, ash, white oak, soft maple, and hickory (right stretcher is a replacement made of beech)
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Armchair
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c. 1765–1775
Soft maple, white oak, hickory, and yellow-poplar
B.69.424
Armchair
Armchair
c. 1785–1800
Soft maple, white oak, ash, and hickory
B.69.423
High Chair
High Chair
c. 1780–1800
Soft maple, hickory, birch, basswood, beech, and white oak
B.61.83
Armchair
Armchair
c. 1785–1800
Eastern white pine, soft maple, ash, red oak, and white oak
B.69.402
Desk and Bookcase
Desk and Bookcase
c. 1760–1790
Mahogany; eastern white pine, soft maple, chestnut, red cedar, poplar-aspen or cottonwood, white oak, and Spanish cedar or cedrela
B.69.22
Armchair
Armchair
c. 1795–1815
Soft maple, oak, hickory, and yellow-poplar
B.79.205
Chamber Table
Chamber Table
c. 1690–1710
Red oak; eastern white pine, soft maple, and hemlock
B.70.24
Table with Drawer
Table with Drawer
c. 1695–1725
White oak and soft maple; southern yellow pine and white oak
B.22.18
Cupboard
Cupboard
c. 1670–1700
Red oak and red maple; white pine and western red cedar
B.93.11