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Lot Essay
Displaying its maker's virtuosity and technical mastery, this side chair is part of the last known commission made by John Townsend (1733-1809). It is one of four side chairs, all labeled, that were owned by descendants of Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce (1827-1917) (fig. 1) and sold as a group to dealers Hyman (Hymie) Grossman and subsequently John Walton. Walton split up the set and with two now at Bayou Bend and one at Winterthur, the chair offered here is the only known example from the set owned privately.
As noted by Morrison H. Heckscher, this set of chairs is a testament to the talents of John Townsend toward the end of his remarkable career. While the design of the splat is a copy of New York examples, the execution of the carving is "crisper and more assured than that of their New York prototypes." Furthermore, the bracing of the seat frame, a feature also derived from New York craftsmanship, was perfected by Townsend who slid in the braces from above, rather than from below, preventing their slipping out. The seats were originally upholstered in black horsehair, as is evidenced by the survival of remnants on the chairs at Bayou Bend and as indicated by the chair offered here, the seat's top brass tacking was originally nailed in a swag pattern. With a determined focus on Rhode Island craftmanship, Joseph K. Ott was keen to verify with Walton that his chair was the only one of the four with chestnut secondary wood (in a glueblock). Ott also noted that he had seen two armchairs, which may have originally been part of the same set; the whereabouts of these armchairs are unknown. At least three other similar chairs are known that based on the set represented by this chair have been attributed to Townsend or deemed possibly by the cabinetmaker. Two of these, those that sold at Christie's in 1999 and 2006, feature different construction details such as the lack of cross braces or seat rails joined to the stiles with through tenons and may indicate variations within the cabinetmaker's oeuvre. These other chairs may or may not duplicate a set that descended in the Wanton family and was advertised by C.W. Lyon (Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend Newport Cabinetmaker (New Haven, Connecticut, 2005), pp. 181-183; David B. Warren et al., American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection (Princeton, New Jersey, 1998), pp. 94-95; Invoice and letter, John Walton to Joseph K. Ott, both dated 25 May 1966 and letter, Joseph K. Ott to Wendy Cooper, 2 November 1978, all in the Joseph K. Ott Papers; Christie's New York, 15-16 January 1999, lot 704; Christie's New York, Property from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. E.J. Nusrala, 21 January 2006, lot 697; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack, vol. II, p. 536, fig. 1263; C.W. Lyon, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (March 1951), p. 165, the last three chairs are all recorded in the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF1453, RIF1517, RIF4554).
According to John Walton's 1966 invoice to Joseph K. Ott, the set of four chairs was inherited by Rear Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce (fig. 1). Born in Albany, New York, Luce began his career in the US Navy as a midshipman in 1841 after circumnavigating the world on various assignments. He married Eliza Henley, a granddaughter of Elizabeth Dandridge (b. 1749), sister of first lady Martha (1731-1802) and thus, his wife was a great niece of first President George Washington. By the time of the Civil War, he was a Lieutenant and commanded several vessels as part of the North Atlantic blockading squadron engaging with Confederate forces at Forts Sumter, Moultrie and Battery Marshall. After the War, he continued to serve as commander on numerous naval ships and the entire North Atlantic squadron in 1884. The same year he founded and served as the first president of the US Naval War College just outside of Newport. He retired from active duty in 1889, taught at the College and is buried in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (Rossiter Johnson, ed., Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, vol. VII (Boston, 1904), p. 56).
As noted by Morrison H. Heckscher, this set of chairs is a testament to the talents of John Townsend toward the end of his remarkable career. While the design of the splat is a copy of New York examples, the execution of the carving is "crisper and more assured than that of their New York prototypes." Furthermore, the bracing of the seat frame, a feature also derived from New York craftsmanship, was perfected by Townsend who slid in the braces from above, rather than from below, preventing their slipping out. The seats were originally upholstered in black horsehair, as is evidenced by the survival of remnants on the chairs at Bayou Bend and as indicated by the chair offered here, the seat's top brass tacking was originally nailed in a swag pattern. With a determined focus on Rhode Island craftmanship, Joseph K. Ott was keen to verify with Walton that his chair was the only one of the four with chestnut secondary wood (in a glueblock). Ott also noted that he had seen two armchairs, which may have originally been part of the same set; the whereabouts of these armchairs are unknown. At least three other similar chairs are known that based on the set represented by this chair have been attributed to Townsend or deemed possibly by the cabinetmaker. Two of these, those that sold at Christie's in 1999 and 2006, feature different construction details such as the lack of cross braces or seat rails joined to the stiles with through tenons and may indicate variations within the cabinetmaker's oeuvre. These other chairs may or may not duplicate a set that descended in the Wanton family and was advertised by C.W. Lyon (Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend Newport Cabinetmaker (New Haven, Connecticut, 2005), pp. 181-183; David B. Warren et al., American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection (Princeton, New Jersey, 1998), pp. 94-95; Invoice and letter, John Walton to Joseph K. Ott, both dated 25 May 1966 and letter, Joseph K. Ott to Wendy Cooper, 2 November 1978, all in the Joseph K. Ott Papers; Christie's New York, 15-16 January 1999, lot 704; Christie's New York, Property from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. E.J. Nusrala, 21 January 2006, lot 697; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack, vol. II, p. 536, fig. 1263; C.W. Lyon, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (March 1951), p. 165, the last three chairs are all recorded in the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF1453, RIF1517, RIF4554).
According to John Walton's 1966 invoice to Joseph K. Ott, the set of four chairs was inherited by Rear Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce (fig. 1). Born in Albany, New York, Luce began his career in the US Navy as a midshipman in 1841 after circumnavigating the world on various assignments. He married Eliza Henley, a granddaughter of Elizabeth Dandridge (b. 1749), sister of first lady Martha (1731-1802) and thus, his wife was a great niece of first President George Washington. By the time of the Civil War, he was a Lieutenant and commanded several vessels as part of the North Atlantic blockading squadron engaging with Confederate forces at Forts Sumter, Moultrie and Battery Marshall. After the War, he continued to serve as commander on numerous naval ships and the entire North Atlantic squadron in 1884. The same year he founded and served as the first president of the US Naval War College just outside of Newport. He retired from active duty in 1889, taught at the College and is buried in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (Rossiter Johnson, ed., Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, vol. VII (Boston, 1904), p. 56).