Chippendale Carved Mahogany Side Chair

Object Details

Object Essay

In the last two decades of the colonial period, Philadelphia chair-makers followed contemporary English designs and models more closely than any of their American counterparts. This chair’s crest rail, with a circular opening surrounded by carved ruffles, was derived from plate 13 or 14 of the 1762 edition of Thomas Chippendale’s Director. The splat, a variation of a design in plate II of the Director, was also copied directly from English models.^{1_{Kirk 1972, 24; Kirk 1981, 169–70.}}

Philadelphia chairs with this splat were attributed for many years to Benjamin Randolph on the basis of a labeled pair of chairs in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which John T. Kirk subsequently proved to be fakes.^{2_{Kirk 1972, 172–74.}} No other examples have been connected with certainty to a specific shop, although Hornor published two chairs of this type as the work of Thomas Affleck.^{3_{Hornor 1935, pls. 260, 265.}} A few simplified versions of this design were made in Maryland and elsewhere in the South.^{4_{Weidman 1984, no. 4; Kirk 1982, no. 949.}}

This chair was originally part of a set of at least six chairs.

David L. Barquist

Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.