Side chair

Date1740-1765

OriginAmerica, New Hampshire, Portsmouth

MediumBlack walnut, maple

DimensionsOH: 40 3/4"; OW: 20 1/2" OD: 22 3/4"

Credit LineGift of Mr. Joseph France.

Object number2001-40

DescriptionA low side chair with a turned medial stretcher base supported at the front by cabriole legs with small pad feet and a long C-scroll behind the knee and by rear stiles, blocked at the height of stretchers and seat rails, but otherwise round in profile rising from the seat to a yoke crest rail that receives a baluster splat with a distinctive S-curve profile at the top.
Label TextResidents of Portsmouth, New Hampshire considered the style of Boston furniture when purchasing locally made pieces. This chair follows the basic Boston model of the period. The shape of the splat just below the crest rail differs slightly from the Massachusetts design, however, and is characteristic of Portsmouth production.

Boston upholsterer Samuel Grant charged customers £10 for "2 Compass" chairs with rounded seats like this example in 1742. A pair of chairs with trapezoidal seats and "Flat stretchers" cost only £6.
ProvenanceFormerly owned by Joseph France's parents, Richard and Louisa F. France.

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