Images(10)

Piano Stool

Dateca. 1815

Possibly by Duncan Phyfe

OriginAmerica, New York, New York City

MediumMahogany, brass, iron, linen, curled hair

DimensionsOH (lowest): 31”; OW: 16 ½”; OD: 15 ¼”; SD: 13”

Credit LineGift of June S. Hennage

Object number2016-21

DescriptionLyre back adjustable music chair; flaring tablet crest rail, rounded towards rear, carved with acorn vine motif over carved lyre shaped splat with 4 brass strings supported by a reeded and bowed stay rail; stiles reeded on fronts; outcurving arms terminate in small scrolls with applied rondels on inner and outer faces of volutes; shaped arm supports probably screwed to outside of seat rail (screw covered by wooden plug); slightly oval seat upholstered half over the rail in haircloth with brass nail trim (replaced show cloth); original upholstery foundation with stitched edge around top of seat survives; seat rail reeded horizontally; seat attached to base with an iron screw mechanism that rotates to adjust height of chair; pedestal base with fluted urn over four saber legs with central tapering carved rope flanked by reeds ending in wooden carved paw feet on brass castors.
Label TextMusic was an important leisure activity in the 18th and 19th century. With the specialization of furniture forms especially in the early 19th century, chairs specifically designed for playing music came into vogue. This chair with its adjustable mechanism allows the sitter to adjust the seat height based on the instrument or their own size in relation to that instrument. Music stands were also often adjustable. Known for producing lyre back seating furniture in the Grecian taste for his discerning clients, Scottish cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe’s craftsmen may have made this chair in Phyfe’s New York manufactory. Phyfe’s designs were so popular in New York that other cabinetmakers did copy them throughout the 19th century.
ProvenancePurchased by donor from Israel Sack, Inc. in 1993.

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