These graceful side chairs, among the most refined expressions of American Neoclassicism, are also precursors of the Grecian style. Their design is modeled after one described in the 1802 London Chair-Makers’ and Carvers’ Book of Prices for Workmanship, which specifies a charge for veneering “tablets in tops” and, more importantly, records the earliest mention of scrolled backs and sprung legs, elements that clearly define the more historically correct taste. The harmonious lines are accentuated by discreet inlays, passages of carving, contrasting veneers, and an interplay between positive and negative spaces.

Technical notes: Mahogany, birch (veneer), unidentified inlay; birch (seat rails), soft maple (corner blocks). The rear seat rail is faced with mahogany. The back is composed of three separate horizontal rails. Four, brackets compose the lower tracery, while a single piece is employed above.

Related examples: Antiques 50 (November 1946), inside front cover; Bishop 1972, p. 250, no. 380; Kane 1976, pp. 174–75, no. 154. A number of variations exist: Hipkiss 1941, pp. 178–79, no. 116; Montgomery 1966b, pp. 91–92, no. 38; Tracy et al. 1970, n.p., no. 14; Flanigan 1986, pp. 132–35, nos. 47–48. This pattern was also adapted for settees: Montgomery 1966b, pp. 90–93, nos. 37, 39.

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.