BOSTON, 1740-1760

Details

A QUEEN ANNE CARVED WALNUT SIDE CHAIR
BOSTON, 1740-1760
the chair frame marked VI with its original maple slip-seat frame similarly marked; the slip-seat frame with partially legible hand-written inscriptions in graphite referencing Winooski, Vermont and the date 1914; retains its original upholstery foundation
41 in. high

Provenance

William Richmond, Greenwich, Connecticut

Special notice

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Conditions of sale

Lot Essay

With its rounded stiles, exquisite shell carving, old surface and original upholstery foundation, this chair is an outstanding survival of Boston seating from the Queen Anne era. Chairs of this design have been associated with Newport as a closely related set of four that lack the shell-carving on the knees was owned by Providence merchant Moses Brown (1738-1836). As discussed in the recent volume, Art & Industry, chairs from Boston and Newport can be distinguished by their stretcher design. Here, the conical ends of the medial and rear stretchers lack incised rings, the side stretchers have a small rather than larger rear ring turning and the rear feet are tapered, all details that contrast with Newport-made examples and indicative of Boston workmanship. See Jennifer N. Johnston, catalogue entry, in Patricia E. Kane et al., Art & Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650-1830 (New Haven, 2016), pp. 256, 258, 260; for the set owned by Moses Brown, see the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF3993.

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