- Side Chair
Explore Further
This little side chair with its light, lyrical back design of interlaced scrolls defines a high peak of openwork design made possible by the use of lamination. The tubular, outward-flaring front legs add an unusual note.
Technical notes: Rosewood, rosewood veneer; ash. The oak and pine glue blocks are replacements.
Related examples: Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York (Comstock 1962, no. 648); Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Washington, D.C. (Garrett et al. 1985, p. 172, view 196); a piano stool in the Manney Collection on loan to MMA (acc. no. L.1983.109.5); a child’s chair at MMA (acc. no. 69.46). The fact that others periodically show up at auction (for example, Neal Alford Company, New Orleans, May 2, 1987, lot 571) suggests that the form was relatively common.
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.
ProvenanceCharles Brackett (1892–1969), Providence, Rhode Island [1]; Corliss-Brackett House, Providence, Brown University; purchased through [Nino Scotti, Associated Appraisers, Inc., Providence], as agent for Miss Ima Hogg, 1970; given to MFAH, 1971.
[1] The chair was part of the furnishings of the George Corliss House in Providence, which had been left to Brown University. It was owned by Charles Brackett and was apparently placed in the Corliss house when Brackett redecorated it in the Rococo Revival style in the 1920s.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
