These side chairs introduce another variation on the New York square-back design. In this instance the pattern has been skillfully interpreted by a craftsman such as Benjamin Atkinson, an “inlayer and cabinet-maker,” or else it represents a collaboration between a chairmaker and inlayer. The inlays, accentuated by darkened incising, produce an arresting effect, presenting greater contrast and definition than is readily apparent in the carved version. Interpretations of the same design by a carver and by an inlayer are highly unusual and indicative of the profound contributions made by specialist craftsmen.

Technical notes: Mahogany, holly (inlays); ash (seat rails). The construction follows that of B.64.9.1–.4. The medial braces have been removed. Only the rear, rounded, two-part corner blocks remain.

Related examples: Antiques 28 (October 1935), p. 164; Hipkiss 1941, pp. 170–71, no. 108; Garrett 1977, p. 996. Variations in the crest rail are recorded, some plain, others suggesting an archway: Montgomery 1966b, p. 111, no. 59; Flanigan 1986, pp. 122–23, no. 42; Monkhouse and Michie 1986, pp. 179–80, no. 122; Zimmerman 1997, pp. 721, 723. In addition to being fashioned with carving or inlays, this pattern was also articulated with ornamental painting: Elder and Stokes 1987, pp. 43–45.

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.