The Late Baroque, more popularly known as the Queen Anne style, was integrated into the vocabulary of Boston furniture makers by 1729. The bold, curvilinear contours that had characterized the Early Baroque continued to define the style; however, while previously the emphasis had been placed on detail, the later style placed it on the overall form. The vertical orientation of this handsome side chair suggests a persistence of the Early Baroque, yet its pad feet, cabriole legs, vase-shaped banister, and crest rail embody a sinuous Late Baroque Boston version. Native walnut was the preferred primary wood; the choice of imported mahogany is uncommon, although references to its use occur in Boston as early as the 1730s.

Technical notes: Mahogany; beech (slip seat). The construction is typical of New England chairs from this period. The stretchers were retained, the front legs extended to form the seat frame corners. The thinly cut seat rails correspond to the seat frame’s shape. The seat rail is incised X, the slip seat, III.

Related examples: Kirk 1972b, p. 129, no. 161; Ott 1975, p. 949; Fairbanks et al. 1981, p. 598; SPNEA, interior file no. 57.  John Smibert's 1732 portrait of Mrs. Andrew Oliver and son depicts a similar chair (Saunders 1995, pp. 95, 176).

Book excerpt: Warren, David B., 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.