The overall design of these chairs follows the ancient Greek klismos form as it was widely interpreted in the early 19th century. Without carved ornament, their aesthetic success depends on the maker’s attention to the fundamentals of line and proportion. Here, that care is especially evident in the carefully drawn tapers and curves of the legs and rear stiles.

Adapted from Lonn Taylor and David B. Warren. Texas Furniture: The Cabinetmakers and Their Work, 1840–1880. Vol. 1, rev. ed. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 2012.