Rocking Chair

Date1815-1830

OriginAmerica, Maine or New Hampshire (possibly)

MediumWhite pine, hard maple, birch and paint (by eye).

DimensionsOH: 40 ¾"; OW: 20 ¼"; OD: 27 11/2"; SD: 17 ¼"

Credit LineGift of Juli Grainger

Object number2008.2000.3

DescriptionComb-back Windsor rocking armchair with top extension. Rounded seat, outlined in yellow and painted along front edge with green leaves and yellow fronds, supported by four bamboo-turned legs on two rockers with box stretchers ornamented with reddish-brown faux-grained surface and yellow, green, and red details. Flattened stiles outlined in yellow and five rounded spindles with red flowers and yellow and green detailing support a tablet crest surmounted by five additional smaller spindles and tablet crest. Tablets painted with same grained background as entire chair, outlined in yellow with yellow, green, and red leafy fronds and a red four-petal flower in center of lower tablet. Scrolled arms joined to stiles and supported by two bamboo-turned arm supports.
Label TextThe exuberance and softness of the painted flowers and leafy fronds on the back of this rocking chair are in sharp contrast to the stiff, possibly stenciled grapes and leaves on the back of the tall writing armchair from the Ohio River Valley (right). This smaller New England rocking chair would have lent warmth and comfort to a Fancy domestic interior.