Images(17)

Easy Chair

Date1800-1815

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Piedmont or Tidewater

MediumBlack walnut, yellow pine, tulip poplar; linen, leather (poss. Goat), brass, oat straw, curled hair, cotton

DimensionsOverall: 39 × 29 × 30 1/2in. (99.1 × 73.7 × 77.5cm)

Credit LineGift of Edward T. Lacy

Object number2021-219

DescriptionCommode easy chair with low, arched crest rail; shaped and rounded wings; horizontally scrolled arms with vertical, round termini with support curving down to top of leg; straight skirt; tapered, square walnut legs with brass cup castors (replaced or added); chair has upholstered slipseat covering commode seat; back and wings upholstered on solid boards rather than webbing. Survives with much of its original upholstery foundation. Leather patches added over top linen on tops of arms. Straw stuffing in many areas may be original or possibly added at at later date. Slipseat reupholstered.
Label TextDespite estate inventory references to Virginia easy chairs, relatively few are extant. This chair survives with much of its original upholstery foundation as well as later additions of coverings and stuffing indicating its continued use over time. Like Colonial Williamsburg's sofa labled by Chester Sully of Richmond (#1978-12), this easy chair's upholstery is attached over boards, a less expensive option than the more traditional linen webbing. Commode easy chairs, which contain a support for a commode pot, were often used with a slipcover that could be removed to be laundered rather than fixed show cloth.