Images(5)

Corner Chair

Date1771-1776

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Williamsburg

MediumCherry, oak, and tulip poplar; linen, leather, iron, and hair stuffing

DimensionsOH: 28"; OW: (arm to arm) 30 1/4"; OD: (seat) 24 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1980-184

DescriptionAppearance - crest rail ends in lamb's tongue on either side and is centered on semicircular arm rail which ends in circular grips; arm rail supported by three columnar stiles; two pierced splats; two molded shoes; deep, shaped skirts on front seat rails; square slip seat; marlborough legs; front leg beaded on outside corner and chamfered on inside corner.

Construction - all elements cherry except as noted; crest rail secured on top of arm rail with screws from under arm rail; two piece arm rail with central lap joint screwed from top into tops of outer stiles (which may be tenoned into underside of arms); splats tenoned into arm rail and shoes which are integral part of rear seat rails; seat rails tenoned and pegged to legs; tulip poplar pot support board rests on four tulip poplar battens, two rear battens nailed to underside of rear seat rails and two front battens nailed to inside of front seat rails; four additional tulip poplar battens nailed to seat rails above pot support; four modern blocks nailed to battens supports seat (original commode seat missing); slip seat oak sides tenoned into front and rear elements.

Woods: Primary woods: walnut and cherry; Secondary woods: Oak and tulip poplar.
Label TextIn 1775, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, Virginia's last royal governor, fled Williamsburg as Revolutionary pressures mounted. Dunmore abandoned most of his personal possessions at the Governor's Palace, where they were sold at public auction the following year. A settee, seven matching chairs (accs. 1975-23, 2-8), and a related smoking chair (acc. 1980-184) all have histories of purchase at the sale. According to family tradition, they were acquired by Thomas Lewis of Augusta County and subsequently given as a wedding gift to his sister, Agatha Frogg Lewis, and her husband, John Stuart of Stuart Manor, a house in Greenbriar County (now West Virginia). That Thomas Lewis was actually present at the Dunmore sale is substantiated by the survival of a copy of Shakespeare's works bearing the governor's bookplate that descended with the furniture in the Lewis and Stuart families.

Colonial chair-back settees are exceedingly rare and were probably never produced in significant numbers. Several conclusions can be drawn from physical and documentary evidence, however. Following British custom, American settees were typically sold in pairs; the fact that the medial stretcher on this example was taken from another settee during an early repair demonstrates that at least two settees were included in the Palace suite. It was common for settees to be sold en suite with matching side chairs, a practice reflected by several extant British chairback settees that were imported by wealthy American colonists. Roman numerals on the chairs from the CWF suite reveal that it originally encompassed at least thirteen chairs--and probably more--since side chairs were most often made in multiples of six. Repair evidence suggests additional settees were originally part of the set as well.

The relatively plain design and unrefined execution of the set suggests that it was intended for somewhat utilitarian use at the Palace. So, too, does the choice of durable leather for the seats, which survive intact on the settee and all of the chairs. Given the large size of the suite, the furniture may well have been used in the Palace ballroom where enormous entertainments were held seasonally. As Governor Botetourt noted in 1769, "52 dined with me Yesterday and I expect at least that number to-day."

The set was once attributed to Williamsburg cabinetmaker Peter Scott based on the fact that a few of its structural elements were similar to those on other chairs attributed to Scott. It is now known that the other seating furniture actually was made by Robert Walker of King George County, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River. The Dunmore suite was certainly made in Williamsburg, but cannot presently be firmly attributed to a specific artisan.

The unusual leather tabs securing the leather upholstery on the slip seats further document the attribution of these chairs to Williamsburg. A fragment of a seat frame with evidence of this same corner treatment was discovered during archaeological excavations at the site of the cabinet shop successively occupied by Anthony Hay, Benjamin Bucktrout, and Edmund Dickinson. While the presence of the archeologically recovered seat frame is not conclusive evidence of that technique having been utilized by one or any of the Hay shop masters, when combined with the chairs having been owned by Lord Dunmore, it is suggestive of the technique being done in Williamsburg. The seat frame could have been disposed of by someone in the shop who was repairing a chair made or upholstered by one of the Hay shop masters or another local artisan.
MarkingsNone visible.
ProvenanceThis chair (part of a set 1975-23,1-8, settee and side chairs) has a history of having been in the Governor's Palace. Purportedly it was owned by Lord Dunmore and was sold at the sale of his property in 1776 to Thomas Lewis of Augusta County and to have been presented by Lewis to John Stuart and Agatha Frogg Lewis of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as a wedding gift; there they remained until purchased from descendants by Colonial Williamsburg.

Exhibition(s)