Side Chair

Date1760-1785

MediumBlack walnut and yellow pine

DimensionsOH: 37 1/2"; OW: 20"; seat D: 17"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1930-88,1

DescriptionOne of a set of five side chairs. Serpentine crest rail with slightly rounded ears; solid splat tapering inward from crest rail; molded shoe; stiles with backs rounded above seat rail and splayed outward at top; trapezoidal slip seat; front and side seat rails beaded on upper edges; front legs beaded on outside front edge and chamfered on inside rear edge; rear legs taper in toward one another at base and are raked back; rear legs chamfered on inside edges; box stretcher assembly with side stretchers placed below front and rear stretchers.

CONSTRUCTION: All elements of walnut except as noted; stiles and top of splat tenoned into crest rail; base of splat tenoned into shoe which is glued and nailed to rear seat rail; shoe overhangs rear seat rail on inside; all seat rails tenoned and pinned into legs and further diagonally pinned from inside seat frame; side and front seat rails rabbeted to accept slip seat; side elements of yellow pine slip seat frame tenoned into front and rear elements; glue blocks never used; stretchers tenoned and pinned into legs and further diagonally pinned from inside.
Markings"III" chiseled in rabbet of front seat rail; "III" chiseled on underside of front slip seat element; "N" and "RB" incised on top right side of shoe.
ProvenanceNo history available at time of purchase, however, this group is from the same set as 1982-119, 1-3 which has a history in the Eggleston/Booker families of Ameila and Prince Edward Counties, Virginia. Set originally contained at least twelve chairs, as slip seat of 1982-119,2 is marked "XII." When the 1982-119, 1-3 group was acquired, Roman numerals on slip seats and chair frames indicated that some seats from that group were originally from chairs in this group and vice versa.