This side chair, with its vivid painted decoration and dramatic contour, is one of ten known to have been commissioned by David Lenox of Philadelphia. The recent discovery of a hand-painted signature on a mate in the Philadelphia Museum of Art has brought to light the previously unknown John P. Fondé. He is now credited as the ornamental artist who completed the group.

At times these chairs have been ascribed to Philadelphia and Baltimore. Fondé worked in both cities. Although the latter is regarded as the principal center for the production of sophisticated painted furniture in the United States between 1800 and 1840, it did not corner the field. Indeed, among the sizable number of Baltimore painted chairs that are recorded, none is a close parallel to the present example.

The style of these chairs is essentially Greek. The back legs are the characteristic sabre contour emulating the true klismos form, whereas the front legs are Egyptian inspired—both in terms of their turnings as well as their painted and gilded decoration. Other painted and gilded details have been borrowed from familiar identifiable sources as well, including the reserves with scrolls and anthemia that adorn each side of the seat rails. Variations of this design appear as reserves for name plaques in Percier and Fontaine and on the crest rails of klismos chairs included in Thomas Hope.

Overall, the side chair survives in remarkable condition, even to retaining its original upholstery foundation. The re-upholstering of this chair was coordinated through the Metropolitan Museum of Art and executed together with each of the institutions that owns an example. 

Related examples: James Biddle acquired this set in 1963 and four remain at the Biddle family home, Andalusia in Philadelphia. The remainder are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Baltimore Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Winterthur Museum.