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Lot Essay
This magnificent chair represents the finest work of New York chairmakers, as well as the remarkable confluence of two of New York's most colorful and important historical figures- James Fenimore Cooper and Sir William Johnson.
This chair, marked VII on its seatrail, was originally part of a set of at least nine chairs. Others from this set are in the Winterthur Museum (chair numbers not known, see Downs, American Furniture, (New York, 1952), no. 149; the Chipstone Foundation, chair III (Roque, no. 55); Bayou Bend, chair V (see Warren, cat. F86); Yale, chair XI (see Kane, 300 Years of American Seating Furniture, no. 102). The distinctive knee carving on this set relates to examples attributed to Gilbert Ash (though it is considerably finer than most), and this set may have originated in his shop (see Blackburn, "Gilbert Ash Inscriptions Reconsidered" in Antiques (February, 1983) p. 428-431, where a chair from this set is illustrated).
Tradition holds that this set was made for Sir William Johnson (1715-1770), of Johnstown, New York. Johnson emigrated from Ireland in 1738, and settled in the Mohawk Valley about 25 miles west of Schenectady, New York, where he established a trading post to serve the needs of white settlers and the natives. Johnson is noted for establishing strong relations with the native tribes, in particular the Mohawks. He learned their languages, dressed in their clothing, married two successive native women, and worked to protect their lands. In 1744, Johnson was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Six Nations by the governor of New York. Johnson also accumulated huge land holdings (over 500,000 acres), and became one of the wealthiest men in the colonies. He and his followers played a critical role in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), defeating the French in the Battle of Lake George. His success was rewarded with a baronetcy granted by George II.
James Fenimore Cooper was similarly steeped in the history of the Mohawk Valley, a region he evoked in his remarkably successful novels of the early 19th century. Many of Cooper's romantic tales were set in the time of Sir William Johnson and the French and Indian War. Johnson appears in several of Cooper's novels, including The Last of the Mohicans, and was a part of the historic fabric of the area that became Cooperstown.
Johnson likely purchased this set of chairs in nearby New York City, and had them shipped to his home up the Hudson. Joseph Downs records that Martin Van Bergen's account book of goods carried between Manhattan and Albany on the Hudson includes an entry that perhaps refers to this set of chairs: "To Wm Johnson to freight 6 chairs L0.6.0" (see Downs, cat. no. 149). Van Bergen also paid "Ash" for stuffing eight chairs in1764, further suggesting a link to Gilbert Ash. In 1763, Johnson built his grand, baronetical Georgian-style home Johnson Hall, in which this chair likely was used. Johnson's son, Sir John Johnson, moved into his father's home upon his father's death in 1774. He was a loyalist, and fled the house in 1776 as hostilities broke out. Sir John fled across the Adirondacks to Canada, and together with other Mohawk Valley refugees, and formed the battalion "Johnson's Greens", who infamously scourged the Valley. The house was confiscated in 1779, and subsequently sold by the government.
The set of chairs were likely dispersed after the confiscation of the house, and many of the known examples have varying histories. The 1930 sale catalog of Philip Flayderman, in which one example was sold (for $2,700), recorded that "three matching chairs of this set and from the same source are in a noted New York collection". Peter H. Mabee (1838-1905) apparently owned five from the set, and recorded that they were purchased by his great-grandfather Abraham Gerretson when Johnson's effects were confiscated and sold (Warren, p. 51). A number of the chairs likely remained together into the 19th century, as the horsehair and needlwork upholstery of this chair matches the chair at Yale, and the chair from the Flayderman sale.
This chair, marked VII on its seatrail, was originally part of a set of at least nine chairs. Others from this set are in the Winterthur Museum (chair numbers not known, see Downs, American Furniture, (New York, 1952), no. 149; the Chipstone Foundation, chair III (Roque, no. 55); Bayou Bend, chair V (see Warren, cat. F86); Yale, chair XI (see Kane, 300 Years of American Seating Furniture, no. 102). The distinctive knee carving on this set relates to examples attributed to Gilbert Ash (though it is considerably finer than most), and this set may have originated in his shop (see Blackburn, "Gilbert Ash Inscriptions Reconsidered" in Antiques (February, 1983) p. 428-431, where a chair from this set is illustrated).
Tradition holds that this set was made for Sir William Johnson (1715-1770), of Johnstown, New York. Johnson emigrated from Ireland in 1738, and settled in the Mohawk Valley about 25 miles west of Schenectady, New York, where he established a trading post to serve the needs of white settlers and the natives. Johnson is noted for establishing strong relations with the native tribes, in particular the Mohawks. He learned their languages, dressed in their clothing, married two successive native women, and worked to protect their lands. In 1744, Johnson was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Six Nations by the governor of New York. Johnson also accumulated huge land holdings (over 500,000 acres), and became one of the wealthiest men in the colonies. He and his followers played a critical role in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), defeating the French in the Battle of Lake George. His success was rewarded with a baronetcy granted by George II.
James Fenimore Cooper was similarly steeped in the history of the Mohawk Valley, a region he evoked in his remarkably successful novels of the early 19th century. Many of Cooper's romantic tales were set in the time of Sir William Johnson and the French and Indian War. Johnson appears in several of Cooper's novels, including The Last of the Mohicans, and was a part of the historic fabric of the area that became Cooperstown.
Johnson likely purchased this set of chairs in nearby New York City, and had them shipped to his home up the Hudson. Joseph Downs records that Martin Van Bergen's account book of goods carried between Manhattan and Albany on the Hudson includes an entry that perhaps refers to this set of chairs: "To Wm Johnson to freight 6 chairs L0.6.0" (see Downs, cat. no. 149). Van Bergen also paid "Ash" for stuffing eight chairs in1764, further suggesting a link to Gilbert Ash. In 1763, Johnson built his grand, baronetical Georgian-style home Johnson Hall, in which this chair likely was used. Johnson's son, Sir John Johnson, moved into his father's home upon his father's death in 1774. He was a loyalist, and fled the house in 1776 as hostilities broke out. Sir John fled across the Adirondacks to Canada, and together with other Mohawk Valley refugees, and formed the battalion "Johnson's Greens", who infamously scourged the Valley. The house was confiscated in 1779, and subsequently sold by the government.
The set of chairs were likely dispersed after the confiscation of the house, and many of the known examples have varying histories. The 1930 sale catalog of Philip Flayderman, in which one example was sold (for $2,700), recorded that "three matching chairs of this set and from the same source are in a noted New York collection". Peter H. Mabee (1838-1905) apparently owned five from the set, and recorded that they were purchased by his great-grandfather Abraham Gerretson when Johnson's effects were confiscated and sold (Warren, p. 51). A number of the chairs likely remained together into the 19th century, as the horsehair and needlwork upholstery of this chair matches the chair at Yale, and the chair from the Flayderman sale.