This chair represents a distinctive Rhode Island variant on the bow-back Windsor that originated in Philadelphia. The notable Rhode Island features are the mahogany arms, which lend a quality of elegance, and the inward taper at the bottom of the legs. While mahogany arms appear also in Philadelphia examples, they tend to be ovoid in cross section, as opposed to the rectangular design here. The vase-turned lower section of the back spindles echoes the back spindle design found in an equally distinctive group of Rhode Island low-back Windsor armchairs with cross stretchers. The crisp turnings, raked arm supports, and curved, scrolled design of the arms make this chair a particularly fine example.

Technical notes: Eastern white pine (seat), mahogany (arms), soft maple (legs, stretchers, arm supports), white oak (crest rail, spindles), ash (spindles). Old but not original green paint.

Related examples: Williamsburg (Greenlaw 1974, nos. 150, 152); MFA, Boston; advertisement of Tillou Gallery, Antiques 96 (October 1969), p. 453; RISD (Michie and Monkhouse 1986, no. 150); Santore 1987, no. 137, p. 134; Chipstone (Rodriguez Roque 1984, no. 107); Evans 1996, p. 275, fig. 6–71.

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.