Unknown American
Settee

Settee

Public Domain

Settee
Maker
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Settee
Datec. 1800–1820
Probable placePennsylvania, United States
MediumSoft maple, red oak, white oak, and hickory. Old but not original green paint.
Dimensions32 1/2 × 45 × 21 1/2 in. (82.6 × 114.3 × 54.6 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.426
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Glazed Porch
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This unusual settee, with its bentwood crest rail, relates in design and construction to cradles or cribs. The overall concept echoes as well the design of rod-back chairs and settees of the early nineteenth century, especially those made in Pennsylvania.

Technical notes: Soft maple (main corner posts, legs), red oak (crest rail), white oak (stretchers), hickory (spindles). Old but not original green paint.

Related examples: Earlier versions: MMA (acc. no. 34.100.26); Santore 1981, nos. 185, 186. 

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.


ProvenanceJacob Paxson Temple (1880–1924), Tanguy, Pennsylvania; consigned to [American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, The Jacob Paxson Temple Collection, January 16, 1922, lot 1192]; purchased through Wayman Adams (1883–1959) as agent for Miss Ima Hogg, 1922; given to MFAH, 1969.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Soft maple, oak, hickory, and yellow-poplar
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Chamber Table
c. 1690–1710
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B.22.18
Cupboard
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B.93.11