PROBABLY NEWPORT, 1780-1790

An early example of a New England brack-back chair, this Windsor displays features that indicate a probable Newport origin. As discussed by Nancy Goyne Evans, while brace-back supports are seen in Philadelphia chairs from the 1760s and 1770s, the feature was rarely used in New England before 1790. This chair and that in the following lot are part of a small group defined by their crests with upturned ears and "compressed spool" turnings with pronounced caps. Attributed to postwar Newport, these chairs also have a noticeable ridge running front to back at the center of the seat, a detail found on early Rhode Island Windsor seating. Along with the chair in the following lot and a looking glass now at the New-York Historical Society Museum, this chair was acquired from descendants of Newport cabinetmaker and chairmaker Robert Lawton, Jr. (1772-1853) and Christopher Robinson of South Kingston, Rhode Island who were living at the Lawtondale Farm in Thornton, just northwest of Providence (Nancy Goyne Evans, American Windsor Chairs (New York, 1996), pp. 253-254; The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF4483; Joseph K. Ott, "Still More Notes on Rhode Island Cabinetmakers and Allied Craftsmen," Rhode Island History 28, no. 4 (Fall 1969), p. 120).