Side chair

Date1800-1810

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Petersburg

MediumCherry and yellow pine

DimensionsOH: 35 1/4"; OW: 19 3/4"; OD: 19 3/4"

Credit LineGift of Mr. Fletcher J. Wright III

Object number2005-335

DescriptionAppearance: Side chair with square back consisting of three bannisters, outer two slightly flare at top, central bannister flares at top into three lobes; a shaped crest rail with a raised or stepped central portion; square tapered legs; H stretchers; upholstered over the rail.

Construction: Seat rails mortised and tenoned into legs; two diagonal corner braces dovetailed into tops of front and side rails; side stretchers mortised and tenoned into legs; central stretcher half dovetailed to side stretchers from bottom; stay rail mortised and tenoned into stiles; bannisters mortised and tenoned into stay and crest rails; stiles mortised and tenoned into crest rail; rear of stiles and crest rail chamfered along edges; front of back scratch beaded along inner and outer edges of stiles, crest rail, and stay rail.
Label TextChairs with square shaped backs were quite popular in America from around 1790 to 1815. Although the taste for the neat and plain predominated in eastern Virginia, the simplicity of this chair was probably due more to cost than fashion. The overall form of the back with its three vertical slats echoes the shape of more elaborate carved or inlaid square back chairs such as those made in nearby Norfolk. Producing the chair without ornamentation provided a fashionable chair at a fraction of the cost.

The pattern created by the barss tacks around the seat of this chair is quite unusual. Conservators discovered this tacking design by locating the original nail holes remaining in the seat rails.
ProvenanceAccording to the donor, the side chair was owned by Martha Davis Seay, his great-grandmother. She lived in Oxford, Granville County, North Carolina at "Abrams Plains."

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