This turned chair with slat back is one of a group that relates closely in terms of design and ornament. Variations, particu­larly as to size and details of the turnings, suggest that the group is not the product of one shop but represents the style of a regional group of turners. The outsize mushroom-shaped terminals of the front posts, clearly a turner’s conceit, add a dis­tinctive note. Other identifying details are the tall, ovoid stile terminals capped with contrastingly small finials, as well as the ogee profile at the upper ends of each slat. Vase turnings in the posts and stiles recall those of B.69.354, made in coastal Connecticut. However, this group proba­bly originated from the inland area of Norwich. While it has been suggested that the arms of the chair in the Bayou Bend Collection, which are not set with the sharp, upward rake seen in most of the related examples, have been altered, there is no evidence that this is so. At some time in the chair’s history its back and seat appear to have been covered with upholstery.

Technical notes: Soft maple (arms, slats, right rear post, right front leg), white oak (right seat rail, lower front stretcher). Old restoration on front and rear feet.

Related examples: Two are at Winterthur. One (acc. no. 58.691) is larger overall and has shallow turnings resembling multiple lines in the cylindrical sections of the rear stiles. The other (acc. no. 74.40) is smaller than the Bayou Bend example. Both have a distinctive cant to the back not present here (Forman 1988, pp. 124–28). Other examples are in Williamsburg (Greenlaw 1974, no. 33); Art In­stitute of Chicago (acc. no. 1985.240); Lyon 1925, fig. 58; Nutting 1962, no. 1887; Chipstone (Rodriguez Roque 1984, no. 74); Leffingwell Inn, Norwich, Connecticut (Johnson 1961, p. 568; Ross 1997, p. 158).

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.