Side Chair (one of a pair)

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Side Chair (one of a pair)
Datec. 1750–1780
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumMahogany; mahogany and southern yellow pine
Dimensions42 1/2 × 20 1/2 × 19 1/2 in. (108 × 52.1 × 49.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.76.2
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Philadelphia Hall (Downstairs)
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

These unusual side chairs are essentially Late Baroque in contour; however, the conventional solid banister has been replaced by a Rococo strapwork one. The juxtaposition of these diverse elements, in all likelihood, reflects a client’s preference. Chairs incorporating elements of two, and sometimes even three styles are considered a composite rather than transitional—although in this instance both may be accurate estimations. 

Technical notes: Mahogany; mahogany (slip seat front and outer, rounded sides—the frame cutouts), southern yellow pine (slip seat interior sides and back). The seat rails are tenoned through the stiles. The rear brackets are attached to the seat rails. The banister is set into the shoe, which is deeper than the rear seat rail. The inside rear seat rail of B.69.76.1 is incised VII, its slip seat, VII. The inside seat rail of B.69.76.2 is incised I, its slip seat, VIII.

Related examples: Other chairs from this set are published in Antiques 37 (January 1940), inside front cover; Downs 1952, no. 117; Hornor 1977, p. 204, pl. 81; Zimmerman 1981, pp. 305–6. Similar chairs include Hornor 1977, pi. 72; Sack 1969–92, vol. 6, p. 1545, no. P4480; Heckscher 1985, pp. 89–90, 92, nos. 44, 46.

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, 1988.


ProvenanceRobert R. Logan [1]; [Joe Kindig, Jr. (1898–1971), York, Pennsylvania, by 1940]; purchased by Henry Francis du Pont, Winterthur, Delaware; [John S. Walton, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1953; given to MFAH, 1969.

[1] The probable descent is “from the Logans of Stenton, or the master of ‘Norris’s Great house”’ through George Logan (1753–1821) and Deborah Norris Logan (1761–1839); to their son Albanus (1783–1853); to his son Gustavus George Logan (1815–1876), father of Robert R. Logan (see H. M. Hornor, Blue Book, Philadelphia Furniture: William Penn to George Washington (Washington, DC: Highland House, 1977), p. 204).
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Incised on the inside seat rail: "I"
Incised on the slip seat: "VIII"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1750–1780
Mahogany; mahogany and southern yellow pine
B.69.76.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.77.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.77.2
Side Chair
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; southern yellow pine, Atlantic white cedar, and yellow-poplar
B.69.80
Chest-on-Chest
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; mahogany, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, white oak, and southern yellow pine
B.69.74
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; mahogany, Atlantic white cedar, cedar, southern yellow pine, and yellow-poplar
B.69.75
Sofa
c. 1750–1801
Mahogany; red oak, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, white oak, and eastern white pine
B.59.73
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany; chestnut, southern yellow pine, eastern white pine, and yellow-poplar
B.69.89
scan from file photograph
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany; southern yellow pine, eastern white pine, and yellow-poplar; marble
B.69.67
scan from file photograph
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany; eastern white pine, birch, southern yellow pine, and hickory
B.76.163
Tall Clock
Edward Spalding
c. 1765–1785
Mahogany; chestnut, white oak, black cherry, eastern white pine, southern yellow pine, and cherry
B.59.83
Card Table
c. 1785–1820
Mahogany, satinwood, and unidentified inlay; yellow-poplar, white oak, hickory, and southern yellow pine
B.69.129