Originally part of a larger set with an additional small sofa and two more side chairs, these laminated and carved pieces represent the production of a fine New York workshop, one other than that of John Henry Belter. While the design of meandering, leafy vine and grapes is not unlike that seen in the work of Belter, the overall lightness gives it a very different feeling from the Germanic quality of Belter’s work, suggesting that what we see here is perhaps French-inspired. The round seat of the armchairs and side chairs also distinguish these examples from documented work of Belter. Distinctive features of the Bayou Bend set include the bird’s nest with flanking birds carved on the crest of the sofa and the scalelike ornament on the front legs of all the pieces.

Technical notes: Rosewood, rosewood veneer; ash, mahogany (right front corner block of armchair B.71.35.1).

Related examples: An identical sofa and side chair are in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (acc. no. 47–864); a small sofa is in the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum (Springer 1980, p. 35; Springer 1982, p. 1193); another parlor set is in a private Tennessee collection.

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.