Colonial armchairs, considerably more expensive than side chairs, were never produced in quantity. The Bayou Bend armchair is comparable to English examples; its banister, similar to a Robert Manwaring design, is probably modeled after an import. Furthermore, the lack of stretchers, unusual for New England furniture of this date, is typical of English examples. This armchair’s regional origin is problematic; its pattern is found on chairs with histories in Boston, Portsmouth, and Virginia.

Technical notes: Mahogany; soft maple (front and side seat rails), birch (rear seat rail, corner blocks). The seat rails are secured by large, triangular comer blocks. The banister is a replacement.

Related examples: Armchairs include Antiques 42 (September 1942), p. 109; Jobe and Kaye 1984, pp. 396–97, no. 116. Side chairs include Sack 1969–92, vol. 8, p. 2167, no. P5632; Randall 1965, pp. 191–93, nos. 151, 152; Sotheby’s, New York, sale 6132, January 30–February 2, 1991, lot 1478; Sack 1969–92, vol. 10, p. 2674, no. P6377.

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.