Hole Chair

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Hole Chair
Datec. 1800–1850
Made inUnited States
MediumUnidentified woods, paint, rush
Dimensions19 × 13 × 10 in. (48.3 × 33 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of David B. Warren
Object numberB.2004.45
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Maple Bedroom
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionThe child's "hole" chair was a necessary piece of domestic furniture. The form persists, known today as the “potty chair.” Both parental love and the desire for convenience are expressed in furniture scaled to infant or child size. The earliest chairs, those dating before the mid-18th century, were usually constructed with a rush bottom. While they remained popular, in the years following the Revolution an alteration occurred—the rush seat was replaced by examples with wooden seats, such as the type David Alling, a Newark, New Jersey, chairmaker described as “child's wood seat chr hole in” during the 1820s and 1830s.
ProvenanceDavid B. Warren, Houston; given to MFAH, 2004.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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