拍品专文
Essentially a Grecian throne form, this chair reflects a variety of influences while remaining a distinctive example of New York Classical cabinetmaking. Its low back and covered sides are both reminiscent of the French fauteuil girandole and its anglicized Regency version, while its ultimate source in antiquity cannot be overlooked. In France and England, the re-discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the re-evaluation of other sites had led cabinetmakers to create archaeologically-inspired forms from the mid century onwards. Beginning in the second half of the century, a multitude of pattern books were published depicting designs based on antiques sources and illustrating contemporary neoclassicism. By the beginning of the 19th century, American cabinetmakers utilized these sources.
Acanthus-carved legs and animal paw feet similar to those on the chair offered here are Greco-Roman features that were assimilated by many New York cabinetmakers. The hairy leg carving and forward-facing orientation is a particular characteristic of Duncan Phyfe's work, as demonstrated by a sketch attributed to his hand and in many forms made by Phyfe, including chairs made for William Livingston (see Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period (New York, 1966), cat.72a and Nancy McClelland, Duncan Phyfe and the English Regency: 1795-1830 (New York, 1939), p.279, pl.266)
A nearly identical chair and possibly the mate to the chair being offered here, is in the collection of Boscobel and illustrated here. It descended in the Brevoort Family through Mrs. John Kane of Tuxedo, New York.
Acanthus-carved legs and animal paw feet similar to those on the chair offered here are Greco-Roman features that were assimilated by many New York cabinetmakers. The hairy leg carving and forward-facing orientation is a particular characteristic of Duncan Phyfe's work, as demonstrated by a sketch attributed to his hand and in many forms made by Phyfe, including chairs made for William Livingston (see Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period (New York, 1966), cat.72a and Nancy McClelland, Duncan Phyfe and the English Regency: 1795-1830 (New York, 1939), p.279, pl.266)
A nearly identical chair and possibly the mate to the chair being offered here, is in the collection of Boscobel and illustrated here. It descended in the Brevoort Family through Mrs. John Kane of Tuxedo, New York.