Side chair. Walnut primary wood and maple secondary. Yoke-shaped crest rail with central carved shell. Cyma-curved stiles and vasiform splat. Compass seat upholstered with twentieth-century red stamped worsted fabric; cabriole legs feature high-relief shell carvings terminating in carved bellflower drops; turned swelled stretchers with blocks and ring turnings, claw and ball feet. Part of a set purchased by Charles Barrett, Sr.
side chairs
chairs (furniture forms)
walnut (wood)
maple (wood)
Queen Anne
Chair
"Cherished Possessions": This chair represents the height of style in colonial America, as close to the English model as it was possible to get. More expensive versions were available-chairs that had slightly more elaborate stiles; or that used flashy walnut veneers on the back splat; or that had more carving-but this was still the gold standard. Because this chair has the roman numeral VIII stamped into its seat rail, we know it was originally part of a set of at least eight.
The set belonged to Charles Barrett, Sr., (1740-1808) of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, who probably inherited it or purchased it used around the time of his marriage in 1764.
Used at Barrett House (New Ipswich, N.H.),
1948.152a
Unknown
Boston, MA
38 7/8 x 22 x 17 (HxWxD) (inches)
Bequest of Caroline Barr Wade
1955.430.1
New Ipswich (Hillsborough county, New Hampshire)
Massachusetts (United States)
New Hampshire (United States)
Probably
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