The contours of the Philadelphia easy chair changed little between the Late Baroque and Rococo periods, the only discernible difference being the execution of the knee ornament. The Bayou Bend example is a classic expression, with ball­ and-claw feet, carved shells on the knees, and stump rear legs. In Philadelphia the earlier C-scrolled arms were retained, whereas in New England and New York craftsmen followed the English practice of substituting inverted cones. Both the 1772 and 1786 Philadelphia cabinetmakers' price lists record the form, offering the option of "plain feet and knees'' or "Claw feet and Leaves on the Knees," the former implying the Late Baroque's persistence.1

Technical notes: Black walnut; white oak (front seat rail, arm supports), soft maple (side and rear seat rails), white oak (arm supports' rear component), ash (rear posts), yellow­ poplar (arm supports' middle section, wings, stiles, crest). The front legs' dovetailed exten­ sions fit into the seat rail. The front rail is lapped over and pegged to the side rails. The rear stiles are supported by the triangular ends of the rear legs and are slotted into the side seat rails. The inner armrest is dovetailed to the cone support.

Related examples: Downs 1952, no. 85; Antiques 63 (January 1953), p. 5; Sack 1969-92, vol.  p. 63, no. 200; Cooper 1973a, pp. 329, 332; Montgomery and Kane 1976, pp. 145-46, no. 91; Antiques 114 (November 1978), p. 848; Heckscher 1987a, pp. 105-6.

References: Warren 1975, p. 52, no. 93, 1. Weil 1979, p. 183.

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.