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Lot Essay
A rare survival of the form, this "French" chair is one of only seven known from eighteenth-century Charleston. Such chairs were also referred to as "elbow chairs" during the era and were defined by the presence of open upholstered arms. They featured prominently in Thomas Chippendale's 1754 Director and their popularity in Charleston by the 1760s is indicated by their frequent mention in period accounts. While many were imported from England, including a large set of twelve made for the Miles Brewton house, local cabinetmakers and upholsterers produced comparable forms imitative of the British style. They were often ordered in pairs or sets and, as indicated by several references in the account book of Thomas Elfe, a pair including upholstery cost L60 (Bradford L. Rauschenberg and John Bivins, Jr. The Furniture of Charleston, 1680-1820, vol. 1 (Winston-Salem, NC, 2003), p. 397-399).
The Blair Collection "French" chair was originally part of the same set as one now in the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (fig. 3) and, based on design and construction similarities, both were made in the same shop as another pair and another single example. As noted by Rauschenberg and Bivins, the pair, with a closely related provenance in the Rutledge family, bears the same rosette-carved arm supports but differs by having upholstery that does not wrap around the front legs, a straight rather than serpentine front seat rail and a seat seemingly of greater height. The single chair lacks the rosettes but is otherwise very closely related to the Blair Collection and MESDA chairs. All share the same design of arm support and the profile of the moldings on the arm supports of the Blair Collection and MESDA chairs is identical to those on both the arm supports and legs of the other three. Furthermore, from the available evidence, all appear to display the same construction methods, with spliced rear legs, side rails cut to house the upper stiles, unpinned mortise-and-tenon joinery and corner braces fitted into angled mortises (Rauschenberg and Bivins, pp. 399-401; the two remaining Charleston "French" chairs were made in another shop, see Rauschenberg and Bivins, p. 443, fn. 59).
The Blair Collection chair descended in the Rutledge family, owners of Hampton Plantation (fig. 2), one of the largest estates along the Santee River and located just to the north of Charleston. The first owner was most likely Daniel Huger Horry (1738-1785), who owned Hampton from 1757 until his death in 1785. Upon his second marriage in 1768, Horry added two wings to the house, including a large ballroom in the east wing, and thus would have been purchasing new furniture at this time. An inventory taken soon after his death lists "8 French arm Chairs" valued at L20 in the "long Room" and may refer to the set represented by the Blair Collection and MESDA chairs. An old photograph, probably taken in the early twentieth century, shows the Blair Collection chair in the ballroom (fig. 1); it is identifiable by its lack of a medial stretcher, which as Mrs. Blair noted was a replacement. Horry's daughter, Harriott Pinckney Horry (1770-1858) married Frederick Rutledge (1768-1821) in 1797, thereby bringing Hampton Plantation into the hands of the Rutledge family. It is also possible that the chairs were made for Frederick's father, John Rutledge (1738-1800), who is thought to have owned the related pair from the same shop discussed above, and brought to Hampton after the Rutledge-Horry marriage (Rauschenberg and Bivins, pp. 394-395, 399).
The grand house and its contents passed down in the male line to Archibald Hamilton Rutledge (1883-1973), the first poet laureate of South Carolina, who left the family home to the State to be run as an historic site. As documented by letters written to Mrs. Blair from C.M Van Houten in 1930, the chair, along with a bedstead, was sold by Archibald Rutledge to Van Houten, who in turn sold the chair to Willoughby Farr. While Mrs. Blair purchased the chair from Farr, she bought the bedstead directly from Van Houten and later gave it to the New-York Historical Society. As shown in a December, 1932 photograph, the chair was displayed in the center of Mrs. Blair's bedroom (see Introduction, fig. 14). After Blairhame was closed down, the chair was moved to the Blairs' New York City apartment and in her 1943 inventory, is listed in the living room.
The Blair Collection "French" chair was originally part of the same set as one now in the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (fig. 3) and, based on design and construction similarities, both were made in the same shop as another pair and another single example. As noted by Rauschenberg and Bivins, the pair, with a closely related provenance in the Rutledge family, bears the same rosette-carved arm supports but differs by having upholstery that does not wrap around the front legs, a straight rather than serpentine front seat rail and a seat seemingly of greater height. The single chair lacks the rosettes but is otherwise very closely related to the Blair Collection and MESDA chairs. All share the same design of arm support and the profile of the moldings on the arm supports of the Blair Collection and MESDA chairs is identical to those on both the arm supports and legs of the other three. Furthermore, from the available evidence, all appear to display the same construction methods, with spliced rear legs, side rails cut to house the upper stiles, unpinned mortise-and-tenon joinery and corner braces fitted into angled mortises (Rauschenberg and Bivins, pp. 399-401; the two remaining Charleston "French" chairs were made in another shop, see Rauschenberg and Bivins, p. 443, fn. 59).
The Blair Collection chair descended in the Rutledge family, owners of Hampton Plantation (fig. 2), one of the largest estates along the Santee River and located just to the north of Charleston. The first owner was most likely Daniel Huger Horry (1738-1785), who owned Hampton from 1757 until his death in 1785. Upon his second marriage in 1768, Horry added two wings to the house, including a large ballroom in the east wing, and thus would have been purchasing new furniture at this time. An inventory taken soon after his death lists "8 French arm Chairs" valued at L20 in the "long Room" and may refer to the set represented by the Blair Collection and MESDA chairs. An old photograph, probably taken in the early twentieth century, shows the Blair Collection chair in the ballroom (fig. 1); it is identifiable by its lack of a medial stretcher, which as Mrs. Blair noted was a replacement. Horry's daughter, Harriott Pinckney Horry (1770-1858) married Frederick Rutledge (1768-1821) in 1797, thereby bringing Hampton Plantation into the hands of the Rutledge family. It is also possible that the chairs were made for Frederick's father, John Rutledge (1738-1800), who is thought to have owned the related pair from the same shop discussed above, and brought to Hampton after the Rutledge-Horry marriage (Rauschenberg and Bivins, pp. 394-395, 399).
The grand house and its contents passed down in the male line to Archibald Hamilton Rutledge (1883-1973), the first poet laureate of South Carolina, who left the family home to the State to be run as an historic site. As documented by letters written to Mrs. Blair from C.M Van Houten in 1930, the chair, along with a bedstead, was sold by Archibald Rutledge to Van Houten, who in turn sold the chair to Willoughby Farr. While Mrs. Blair purchased the chair from Farr, she bought the bedstead directly from Van Houten and later gave it to the New-York Historical Society. As shown in a December, 1932 photograph, the chair was displayed in the center of Mrs. Blair's bedroom (see Introduction, fig. 14). After Blairhame was closed down, the chair was moved to the Blairs' New York City apartment and in her 1943 inventory, is listed in the living room.