Unknown American
Hole Chair

Public Domain

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Maker Unknown American

CultureAmerican

Titles

Hole Chair

Datec. 1800–1850

Made inUnited States

MediumUnidentified woods, paint, rush

Dimensions19 × 13 × 10 in. (48.3 × 33 × 25.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of David B. Warren

Object numberB.2004.45

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Maple Bedroom

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

FURNITURE

DescriptionThe child's "hole" chair was a necessary piece of domestic furniture. The form persists, known today as the “potty chair.” Both parental love and the desire for convenience are expressed in furniture scaled to infant or child size. The earliest chairs, those dating before the mid-18th century, were usually constructed with a rush bottom. While they remained popular, in the years following the Revolution an alteration occurred—the rush seat was replaced by examples with wooden seats, such as the type David Alling, a Newark, New Jersey, chairmaker described as “child's wood seat chr hole in” during the 1820s and 1830s.
ProvenanceDavid B. Warren, Houston; given to MFAH, 2004.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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