The sack-back Windsor armchair, characterized by a bent, bow-shaped crest, was introduced in Philadelphia in the early 1760s, where it was produced in great numbers. This example has the early features of tubular leg turnings and blunt arrow feet as well as a ball-and-ring stretcher. However, the turnings of the arm supports are less vigorous than those produced in Philadelphia, suggesting an origin outside that city. 

Technical notes: Yellow-poplar (seat), soft maple (legs, stretchers, arm supports, external portion of right handhold), hickory (back-spindles, crest and arm rails). 

Related examples: Evans 1996, p. 95, fig. 3–35, p. 110, fig. 3–61; Santore 1981, no. 103, p. 101. 

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.