Pair of Chippendale Mahogany Ladder-Back Side Chairs

Object Details

Object Essay

This chair clearly reflects Adam-inspired neoclassicism. A delicate chain of carved husks or bellflowers outlines the crest rail, and pairs of stylized rosettes embellish the unusual solid splats. Published as of Maryland origin for many years, these chairs are one of at least four sets with a Maryland provenance.^{1_{Baltimore 1947, no. 113; Miller 1937, no. 387.}} This particular design is unknown elsewhere in the United States. With no surviving secondary wood, the chairs may be of English origin. Significantly, an extremely similar chair at the Baltimore Museum of Art has secondary woods not consistent with a mid-Atlantic origin.^{2_{The seat rails are beech (fagus s.p.) and the corner braces are basswood (tilia s.p.). The Baltimore Museum’s chair differs only in having plain rather than molded legs.}}

Gregory R. Weidman

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.