Armchair

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Armchair
Datec. 1750–1800
Possible placeBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Possible placeSalem, Massachusetts, United States
Possible placePortsmouth, New Hampshire, United States
MediumMahogany; soft maple and birch
Dimensions36 1/2 × 29 1/2 × 22 3/4 in. (92.7 × 74.9 × 57.8 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.57.95
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Colonial armchairs, considerably more expensive than side chairs, were never produced in quantity. The Bayou Bend armchair is comparable to English examples; its banister, similar to a Robert Manwaring design, is probably modeled after an import. Furthermore, the lack of stretchers, unusual for New England furniture of this date, is typical of English examples. This armchair’s regional origin is problematic; its pattern is found on chairs with histories in Boston, Portsmouth, and Virginia.

Technical notes: Mahogany; soft maple (front and side seat rails), birch (rear seat rail, corner blocks). The seat rails are secured by large, triangular comer blocks. The banister is a replacement.

Related examples: Armchairs include Antiques 42 (September 1942), p. 109; Jobe and Kaye 1984, pp. 396–97, no. 116. Side chairs include Sack 1969–92, vol. 8, p. 2167, no. P5632; Randall 1965, pp. 191–93, nos. 151, 152; Sotheby’s, New York, sale 6132, January 30–February 2, 1991, lot 1478; Sack 1969–92, vol. 10, p. 2674, no. P6377.

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.


Provenance[J. C. R. Tompkins (1914–2003), Millbrook, New York, by May 25, 1957]; [Ginsburg & Levy, 1957] [1]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1957; given to MFAH.

[1] Gingsburg & Levy noted its descent in the Weston family of Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Exhibition History

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Easy Chair
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany, soft maple, and birch; soft maple and birch
B.57.76
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1805–1820
Mahogany, birch, and unidentified inlay; birch and soft maple
B.57.70.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1805–1820
Mahogany, birch, and unidentified inlay; birch and soft maple
B.57.70.2
Gentleman's Secretary
c. 1790–1820
Mahogany, eastern white pine, soft maple, and unidentified inlay; birch, yellow-poplar, and eastern white pine
B.61.94
Easy Chair
c. 1780–1800
Mahogany; soft maple and birch
B.60.84
Bedstead
c. 1800–1820
Mahogany, birch, basswood, and eastern white pine; soft maple
B.69.393
Side Chair (one of a pair)
John Townsend
1800
Mahogany; birch, soft maple, eastern white pine, and poplar
B.66.11.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
John Townsend
1800
Mahogany; birch, soft maple, eastern white pine, and poplar
B.66.11.2
Armchair
c. 1700–1725
Soft maple; hard maple, birch, ash, poplar, aspen poplar or cottonwood
B.69.44
Armchair
c. 1790–1810
Yellow-poplar, soft maple, elm, ash, birch, and beech
B.69.422
Armchair
c. 1735–1790
Soft maple and birch; ash
B.68.3
Armchair
c. 1730–1745
Soft maple and birch
B.61.40