Child's High Chair

Date1670-1700

MediumMaple, birch, walnut and oak

DimensionsOH: 34 3/4"; OW: 15"; OD: 11"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1970-113

DescriptionHigh chair with finials of a round form above a flattened disc; one wide flattened disc turning halfway between finial and seat on cylindrical stiles; top rail of back cylindrical in form with a series of three bulbous turnings at center; beneath top rail of back two cylindrical horizontal rails with three vertical turned spindles between them; front arms and legs cylindrical in form with three spaced bulbous turnings and the whole surmounted by a ball-shaped finial; cylindrical arms and two cylindrical stretchers at each side.

Woods: The posts and three spindles are birch, the top rail is walnut, the side and rear stretchers, arms, and spindle supports are white oak, the two front stretchers are maple and both are probably early replacements, as are the lower rear stretcher and right arm.
Label TextSome of the earliest American chairs were produced by turning the individual elements - the posts, spindles, arms, and stretchers - on a lathe and weaving the seats out of rushes. While these techniques continue to be used today, the pattern of the turned elements and the configuration of spindles on the back of the chair can help identify the date of manufacture, a shop, or a regional tradition. This chair was probably made in Massachusetts, where other similar examples have been found. That the high chair dates to the end of the seventeenth century is indicated by the relative simplicity of the turnings.
ProvenanceEx Coll: Fred Fuessnich

Exhibition(s)