Cabriole and square are the two principal sofa variations introduced during the Neoclassical era. In all likelihood Thomas Sheraton’s closely related design incorporating a new element, the freestanding arm support, provided the model for this version. One of the most literal American translations of Sheraton’s design, this sofa is traditionally assigned to Salem. Its distinctive carved rails, composed of swags and vines setting off a bountiful fruit basket, relate to other profusely carved furniture habitually attributed to Samuel Mclntire (1757–1811). In 1802 and 1803 Mclntire billed Jacob Sanderson for “Carving Sofa & working top rail”; however, neither the carving on the Bayou Bend sofa, nor any other can be documented, and a comparison of similar examples indicates the hand of more than one carver.

Technical notes: Mahogany; eastern white pine (seat blocks), spruce (upholstery rails), birch (seat rails, back seat frame and rails). Front and rear legs are not aligned.

Related examples: The only documented sofa of this type is from Nehemiah Adams’s (1769–1840) Salem shop (Clunie 1977, p. 1013). Similar examples have a crest rail worked with arrows, corresponding to Sheraton’s design (Hipkiss 1941, pp. 186–87, no. 122), an eagle (examples include the documented Adams-Foster sofa cited above; Montgomery 1966b, p. 305, no. 270; Davidson and Stillinger 1985, pp. 138–39; Antiques 151 [January 1997], p. 151) or a basket of fruit (the most prevalent; the principal subgroup can be seen in Hipkiss 1941, pp. 184–85, no. 121; Montgomery 1966b, pp. 304–5, no. 269; Antiques 95 [January 1969], p. 12; Kane 1976, pp. 242–44, no. 227; Sack 1969–92, vol. 8, pp. 2264–65, no. P5729; Antiques 146 [November 1994]; Warren 1996, p. 730). A sofa catalogued in Kane 1976, pp. 240–42, no. 226, has similar carving but is oriented differently. The Bayou Bend sofa’s rail is distinct from those cited, the composition being more centered so that the fruit does not appear compressed.

Book excerpt: Warren, David B., 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.