Armchair

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Armchair
Datec. 1750–1790
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumBlack walnut; southern yellow pine
Dimensions43 1/2 × 32 3/4 × 23 in. (110.5 × 83.2 × 58.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.249
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Queen Anne Sitting Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

The most discernible of the subtle differences between this side chair and the previous example (B.69.66) is the handling of the knee brackets, here terminating in a simple ruffle, a presage of the Rococo.

Technical notes: Black walnut; southern yellow pine (slip seat). The front rim is integral with the seat rail, while applied on the side rails. The rear seat rail, with its contoured brackets, is fashioned from a single board. The inside front and rear seat rails as well as the slip seat’s front are incised II.

Related examples: Heckscher 1985, pp. 86–87, no. 42, records another chair from this set. A similar example is in Rodriguez Roque 1984, pp. 114–15, no. 48.

Book excerpt: Warren, David B., 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.


ProvenanceBy family tradition owned by Thomas Chandler (1709–1785), Westminster, Vermont; given to his son John Chandler (1736–1821); given to his son Dr. Chauncy Cheney Chandler (1773–1833); given to his son Lucius Henry Chandler (1812–1871); given to his daughters Sarah Farley Chandler (b. 1837) and Susan Robbins Chandler (b. 1844); given to their niece Emma Chandler (Mrs. James Wilburn Goldthwaite, 1870–1952), Medina, Ohio; given to her son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Mildred Goldthwaite; [Israel Sack, Inc., New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1952; given to MFAH, 1969.
Exhibition History
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Incised front and rear seat rails and slip seat's front: II

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

scan from file photograph
c. 1735–1795
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.66
Side Chair
c. 1745–1795
Black walnut; southern yellow pine
B.69.65
Side Chair
c. 1735–1795
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.246
scan from file photograph
c. 1730–1775
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.407.2
Armchair
c. 1760–1790
Black walnut; southern yellow pine
B.69.18
scan from file photograph
c. 1760–1800
Black walnut; red gum, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and eastern white pine
B.69.527
scan from file photograph
c. 1730–1775
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.407.1
Side Chair
c. 1730–1775
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.69
Eight-day Clock
Peter Stretch
c. 1730–1740
Black walnut; southern yellow pine, eastern white pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.86.4
c. 1740–1800
Black walnut; southern yellow pine, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, and spruce
B.66.15
scan from file photograph
c. 1800–1820
Black walnut, southern yellow pine
B.71.22
Desk on Chest
c. 1860–1890
Black walnut and basswood; southern yellow pine
B.62.48