Lot Essay
Retaining its original over-the-seat upholstery foundation and undisturbed seat construction, these side chairs are a rare survival of Massachusetts Chippendale furniture. The fashion for extending the seat fabric over the rail was particularly favored in Boston and, when combined with gracefully rounded cabriole legs without stretchers, created a light, airy stance that contrasts with the heavy, richly carved aesthetic favored in Philadelphia. The maker of these chairs chose to combine two different techniques of seat reinforcements at each corner. The triangular glue blocks are typical of Massachusetts construction but the open braces are less common and indicate the influence of English practices. New England retained stretchers longer than other regions and the additional support provided by the braces may have been deemed necessary in the absence of stretchers.
The splat design was frequently used on Chippendale chairs from the Boston-Salem area (see John T. Kirk, American Chairs: Queen Anne and Chippendale (New York, 1972), pp.99-102, figs. 103-109). Variations on the pattern include the carved element in the center of the crest rail, optional molding on the ears and stiles, and articulation of the two pairs of volutes. Also characteristic of the region is the rigid acanthus-leaf knee carving that conforms to the outline and curve of the square-cornered cabriole legs. The particular profile of the lower edge of leaves, type of long narrow gouging (and lack of horizontal gouges), and absence of stippled background, are features found on at least three other side chairs and an easy chair and may indicate the work of the same carver (Kirk, p.106, fig. 117; Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985), pp.52-53, 126-127, cats. 14 and 74; Mary Ellen Hayward Yehia, "Ornamental Carving on Boston Furniture of the Chippendale Style," in Brock Jobe, ed., Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century (Boston, 1974), p.216, fig. 149). Typical of Massachusetts practice are the chairs' ball-and-claw feet with retracted side talons. The elongated claws indicate the influence of Newport workmanship and further illustrate the stylistic and structural similarities between the Boston-Salem area and Newport (see Margaretta Markle Lovell, "Boston Blockfront Furniture," in Brock Jobe, ed., Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century (Boston, 1974), pp.120-121). The absence of webbing between the talons and extending up the ankle is an unusual feature that distinguishes the chairs' otherwise fairly normative design; similar treatment of the ankle is found on a side chair in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Heckscher, pp.47-48, cat. 11) and on another illustrated in American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. 5, brochure no. 26 (1974), p.1149, fig.P888).
The splat design was frequently used on Chippendale chairs from the Boston-Salem area (see John T. Kirk, American Chairs: Queen Anne and Chippendale (New York, 1972), pp.99-102, figs. 103-109). Variations on the pattern include the carved element in the center of the crest rail, optional molding on the ears and stiles, and articulation of the two pairs of volutes. Also characteristic of the region is the rigid acanthus-leaf knee carving that conforms to the outline and curve of the square-cornered cabriole legs. The particular profile of the lower edge of leaves, type of long narrow gouging (and lack of horizontal gouges), and absence of stippled background, are features found on at least three other side chairs and an easy chair and may indicate the work of the same carver (Kirk, p.106, fig. 117; Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985), pp.52-53, 126-127, cats. 14 and 74; Mary Ellen Hayward Yehia, "Ornamental Carving on Boston Furniture of the Chippendale Style," in Brock Jobe, ed., Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century (Boston, 1974), p.216, fig. 149). Typical of Massachusetts practice are the chairs' ball-and-claw feet with retracted side talons. The elongated claws indicate the influence of Newport workmanship and further illustrate the stylistic and structural similarities between the Boston-Salem area and Newport (see Margaretta Markle Lovell, "Boston Blockfront Furniture," in Brock Jobe, ed., Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century (Boston, 1974), pp.120-121). The absence of webbing between the talons and extending up the ankle is an unusual feature that distinguishes the chairs' otherwise fairly normative design; similar treatment of the ankle is found on a side chair in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Heckscher, pp.47-48, cat. 11) and on another illustrated in American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. 5, brochure no. 26 (1974), p.1149, fig.P888).