Images(3)

Side chair

Date1770-1790

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Tidewater

MediumBlack walnut and tulip poplar (modern)

DimensionsOH: 37 ½”; OW: 20 ¼”; OD: 19 ½”; SD: 16 ¾”

Credit LineGift of Doris Gwaltney

Object number2016-93

DescriptionSplat back side chair; flat crest rail supported by flat fronted stiles that splay towards top and a solid vase shaped splat held in place by a separate shoe; trapezoidal slip seat; seat rails rounded on upper edges; straight legs, square in cross section with chamfered inner corners; front, rear and side rectangular stretchers, front and rear slightly higher than side.
Label TextThis side chair descended in the Purdie family of Smithfield, Virginia. It descended to the donor along with portraits of her ancestors George and Mary Robinson Purdie (d.1803 and 1809 respectively). Mary’s 1809 will lists a number of pieces of furniture that she left as bequests to her children, but no chairs that match this example. While it may have been a chair that was included in her estate but not specifically mentioned in her will, it is also possible that it came into the Purdie family through an early marriage. The chair is in the Neat and Plain style favored by Tidewater Virginians of the 18th century and is of a design that common to the Tidewater area. A similar chair descended in the Galt family of Williamsburg and Norfolk.
ProvenanceDescended in the Purdie family, possibly from George and Mary Robinson Purdie to son Dr. John Hyndman Purdie (1770-1845) to son Dr. John Robinson Purdie (1807-1896), to son Thomas Smith Purdie (1854-1923) to son Kenneth Sinclair Purdie (1892-1983), to cousin, donor, Doris Gwaltney. However, the chair may have come into the family through a marriage but have been considered a Purdie piece by the late-19th or 20th century.