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拍品专文
Embellished with highly complex and intricate carved ornament, this pair of chairs illustrates the work of one of Philadelphia's most sophisticated and talented eighteenth-century carvers. The design of the splat, with its minimal piercing and large tassel, is akin to pl. XV of the 1762 edition of Thomas Chippendale's Director. As the chairs pre-date this publication, perhaps as much as fifteen years, their maker or carver must have been influenced by English imports or first-hand knowledge of London fashions. With no known Philadelphia precedents for the carving, it is very likely that the carver was a recent immigrant and responsible for the introduction of such stylistic innovation to the Philadelphia area.
Numbered III and IIII, the chairs were originally part of a set of at least eight, with six others appearing in published sources. These include a side chair, recently acquired by the Chipstone Foundation (fig. 1), with a front rail marked VIII. Like one of these chairs, which retains its original slip-seat, Chipstone's example has a slip-seat frame made of poplar. Four others were illustrated by Israel Sack, Inc. (fig. 2) and an armchair of the same design was advertised by David Stockwell.
Surviving chairs from three separate sets display closely related splat designs, but with carved motifs typical of Philadelphia furniture from the late 1750s to early 1770s, illustrate the adaptation of new ideas to regional preferences. The later chairs lack the inventiveness of this pair, notably the pierced crest shells, front rail appliqué and gadrooning, and asymmetrical carving above the legs. Instead, more standardized shells and scroll and acanthus carving are seen on the crests, front rails and legs. Similarly, the fluid and sculptural quality of the carving on this pair is exceptional and contrasts with the accomplished, yet comparatively linear and static carved details on the later models. The three later sets are known by a set of six at the State Department (Clement E. Conger and A. W. Rollins, Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State (New York, 1991), cat. 38, p. 228); three side chairs (Hornor, pl. 333; Sotheby's New York, October 15, 1999, lot 104); and four plainer side chairs (Hornor, pl. 334; Sotheby Parke-Bernet, April 29, 1978, lot 950).
Numbered III and IIII, the chairs were originally part of a set of at least eight, with six others appearing in published sources. These include a side chair, recently acquired by the Chipstone Foundation (fig. 1), with a front rail marked VIII. Like one of these chairs, which retains its original slip-seat, Chipstone's example has a slip-seat frame made of poplar. Four others were illustrated by Israel Sack, Inc. (fig. 2) and an armchair of the same design was advertised by David Stockwell.
Surviving chairs from three separate sets display closely related splat designs, but with carved motifs typical of Philadelphia furniture from the late 1750s to early 1770s, illustrate the adaptation of new ideas to regional preferences. The later chairs lack the inventiveness of this pair, notably the pierced crest shells, front rail appliqué and gadrooning, and asymmetrical carving above the legs. Instead, more standardized shells and scroll and acanthus carving are seen on the crests, front rails and legs. Similarly, the fluid and sculptural quality of the carving on this pair is exceptional and contrasts with the accomplished, yet comparatively linear and static carved details on the later models. The three later sets are known by a set of six at the State Department (Clement E. Conger and A. W. Rollins, Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State (New York, 1991), cat. 38, p. 228); three side chairs (Hornor, pl. 333; Sotheby's New York, October 15, 1999, lot 104); and four plainer side chairs (Hornor, pl. 334; Sotheby Parke-Bernet, April 29, 1978, lot 950).