Unknown American
Side Chair (one of a pair)

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Side Chair (one of a pair)
Datec. 1730–1775
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumBlack walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
Dimensions42 3/4 × 19 3/4 × 19 1/4 in. (108.6 × 50.2 × 48.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.407.2
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Queen Anne Sitting Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Pointed slipper feet, flat, curvilinear stretchers, elongated banisters, and carved shells framed within the crest rail are common characteristics of a group of Late Baroque Philadelphia chairs. In addition to their regional configuration, these chairs exhibit construction techniques attributable to immigrant German craftsmen, including the concealment of the front legs’ round tenons behind the front seat rail and the tenoning of the side seat rails through the stiles, which in time became standard in the Philadelphia area.

Technical notes: Black walnut; black walnut (slip seat front and sides), southern yellow pine (slip seat back). The construction is typical of Philadelphia chairs from this period (see B.69.69). B.69.407.1: The seat frame is incised I, its slip seat, VI. B.69.407.2: The front seat rail is marked VII (probably the earlier mark) and II. The seat is stamped I. The rear seat rails are branded GE. Loan numbers and a fragmentary PMA label identify Mr. Wurts as a previous owner of the chairs.

Related examples: Miller 1937a, vol. 1, pp. 131, 134, nos. 62–63; Downs 1952, no. 112; Antiques 101 (March 1972), p. 411; Hornor 1977, p. 194, pl. 315; Lloyd 1983, p. 279; Christie’s, New York, sale 5890, May 23, 1985, lot 192; Elder and Stokes 1987, pp. 21–22, no. 7.

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.


ProvenanceGeorge Emlen (1695–1754) or his son George Emlen (1718–1776); […]; Charles R. K. Wurts, Philadelphia; [David Stockwell (1907–1996), Philadelphia]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1948; given to MFAH, 1969.
Exhibition History
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Branded on rear seat rail: GE
Marked on front seat rail: VII [probably the earlier mark]; II
Stamped on seat: I

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
Unknown American
c. 1735–1795
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.66
Side Chair
Unknown American
c. 1735–1795
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.246
Side Chair
Unknown American
c. 1745–1795
Black walnut; southern yellow pine
B.69.65
Armchair
Unknown American
c. 1750–1790
Black walnut; southern yellow pine
B.69.249
scan from file photograph
Unknown American
c.1730–1800, decoration added c. 1800–1843
Black walnut; soft maple and eastern white pine
B.69.247.2
Side Chair (one of a pair)
Unknown American
c. 1735–1765
Black walnut and soft maple
B.60.31.2
Side Chair (one of a pair)
Unknown American
c. 1735–1765
Black walnut and soft maple
B.60.31.1
scan from file photograph
Unknown American
c. 1730–1775
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.407.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
Unknown American
c. 1730–1800, decoration added c. 1800–1843
Black walnut; soft maple and eastern white pine
B.69.247.1
Side Chair
Unknown American
c. 1740–1760
Black walnut; soft maple
B.60.51
Side Chair
Unknown American
c. 1730–1775
Black walnut; black walnut and southern yellow pine
B.69.69
scan from file photograph
Unknown American
c. 1760–1800
Black walnut; red gum, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and eastern white pine
B.69.527