Windsor armchair

Date1790-1805

Artist/Maker Charles Chase

MediumMaple, tulip poplar, ash, and paint

DimensionsOH: 47 3/4"; OW: 22 7/8"; OD: 21 1/4".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1952-259

DescriptionAppearance: "Fan-back" Windsor armchair. Serpentine cresting rail with carved, scrolled ears; elongated, baluster-turned posts framing five plain, slightly tapering spindles; S-shaped arm rests terminating in knuckle grips and supported by baluster-turned elements dowelled into seat; pair of short spindles beneath each arm behind arm supports; oval plank, slightly saddle seat with projection at rear to receive pair of plain, cylindrical brace spindles; incised line runs around spindles and brace on seat; four raking baluster turned legs braced by three baluster and ring turned stretchers; entire chair covered with modern red paint over black.

Woods: The posts, legs, and stretchers are maple; the seat, tulip poplar; the crest rail, arms, and spindles are ash. The entire chair is covered with modern red paint over an earlier black and the original green. The arm scroll is made of a single piece, the arms are pinned with nails at the back of the stiles, and a separate tail piece pinned to the seat to support the braces.
Label TextCabinetmakers, joiners, chairmakers, and turners all produced Windsor chairs during the mid-eighteenth century. While the high demand for the form in urban areas at the end of the eighteenth century allowed specialists to focus solely on the production of Windsors, chairmakers and turners in smaller towns and rural areas continued to make the form alongside other goods. Charles Chase, a house carpenter and chairmaker of Nantucket, Massachusetts, marked this "Fan-back" Windsor armchair "C. CHASE" on the underside of the seat.
MarkingsBrand beneath seat at front within rectangular border: "C. Chase."
ProvenanceEx. collection Mrs. Henry A. Hoffman.

Exhibition(s)