- Side Chair (one of a set of four)
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This strapwork pattern was the most popular Rococo chair design in Massachusetts. In addition to its identifiable outline, other regional attributes include shallow carving, retracted side claws, persistence of stretchers, thin interior seat rails, and blunt, molded ears. This set of chairs, together with the previous example (B.69.361.2–.9), suggests the range of options available, such as the amount of carving, type of foot, and manner of upholstery. Despite the pattern’s prevalence, the only documented examples are those for which George Bright billed Jonathan Bowman in 1770.
Technical notes: Mahogany, birch (rear seat rails); birch. The construction is similar to that of B.57.75. The seat rails are secured by large, triangular corner blocks. Attached to each chair is a typed label that reads: “Formerly the property of Lieut. Governor Hutchinson. Saved from his house in Garden Court Street, Boston, when it was sacked by the Sons of Liberty, August 26th, 1765.” The origin of this account is unknown. Thomas Hutchinson lived from 1711 to 1780.
Related examples: See B.69.361.2–.9.
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.
ProvenancePossibly Thomas Hutchinson (1711–1780), Boston [1]; [Collings & Collings, New York, by 1924 ] [2]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, December 31, 1924; given to MFAH, 1969 [3].
[1] Twentieth century labels attached to the four chairs state: “Formerly the property of Lieut. Governor Hutchinson. Saved from his house in Garden Court Street, Boston, when it was sacked by the Sons of Liberty, August 26th, 1765.” A Windsor chair shown on Historic New England’s collections module bears a similar label, noting that it was from “the Milton home of Governor Hutchinson.”
[2] Regarding the four chairs owned by the MFAH, a bill of sale from Collings & Collings records the purchase of two chairs.
[3] Two of the chairs may have remained in Miss Ima Hogg’s personal collection until her death in 1975, at which time her estate would have released them to the MFAH.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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