POSSIBLY EBENEZER TRACY, SR. (1744-1803), LISBON TOWNSHIP, NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT, 1785-1800

With its stately stance, generous proportions and assured craftsmanship, this writing-arm chair is a masterpiece of American Windsor chair-making. Details in its design and construction indicate not only the hand of celebrated Connecticut maker, Ebenezer Tracy, Sr. (1744-1803), but further suggest that it may be one of his earliest models of the form. As discussed and illustrated by Nancy Goyne Evans, the crest design seen here, with a gentle arch and rounded, upturned terminals, pre-dates those with fully rounded scrolls or pronounced hooks. While the later examples are dated by Evans to 1790 to 1800, a high back arm chair with a crest similar to that seen here is attributed to Tracy, Sr. and dated to circa 1784 to 1790. The latter example also displays leg turnings and stretchers seemingly identical to those on this writing-arm chair, suggesting that it too may date prior to 1790 (Nancy Goyne Evans, American Windsor Furniture: Specialized Forms (New York, 1997), p. 37 and Nancy Goyne Evans, American Windsor Chairs (New York, 1996), p. 290, fig. 6-96). The arm supports each consist of a larger, attenuated baluster atop a squat baluster and resemble the bannister turnings on the front staircase in the Tracy home (Evans 1997, p. 38, fig. 1-5). Other details seen on this chair and other writing-arm chairs branded by or attributed to Tracy, Sr. include the six-spindle high back, swelled turnings below the arm rail, an oversize writing surface with drawer and candleslide beneath, a deeply shaped seat lacking an incised border and with a scalloped front profile, and a large drawer beneath the seat (see Evans 1997, p. 37, fig. 1-4; Patricia E. Kane, 300 Years of Seating Furniture (Boston, 1976), pp. 194-196, cat. 173).