This extraordinary roundabout is a spirited maverick exuding the individuality and vitality that distinguishes the very best rural cabinetry. It delights the eye with such idiosyncrasies as the undulating knee brackets, the graduated series of incised arcs on the seat rail, and the diminutive banister supports on the headrest. Contrasting with this imaginative design is the attachment of the battens to the inner seat frame to secure a commode, a common function of roundabout chairs.

Technical notes: Black cherry; black cherry (slip seat), eastern white pine (corner blocks). The legs are channeled from the bottom, the overlapping stretchers slid in, and the exposed channel plugged. The rear seat rails are incised in the same manner as the front rails. The shoes are integral with the rear seat rails. The seat rails are secured with triangular corner blocks. Framing strips are attached at the bottom of the seat rails and along the corner blocks. The two arms abut in the center. The seat retains its original upholstery foundation and a nineteenth-century horsehair and Berlinwork cover.

Related examples: The roundabout appears to be unique; its closest affinity is with a group of Essex County, Massachusetts, chairs illustrated in Jobe and Kaye 1984, pp. 414–16, no. 125.

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.