Featured Chair test - who can guess the closest to when it was made?

I think Jeff's evidence is pretty convincing. My point is that these chairs go back further and most are copies of earlier chairs. While the chair I posted has a lot of similarities, it is not as similar as the Winterthur chair. I have to assume the provenance of that chair is about as solid as can be. While the chair I posted was sold as early 20th century, I doubt that provenance to be as solid.

Assuming Jeff's chair (and the Winterthur example) are early 19th century, they would be contemporary to the tail end of the original popularity of such chairs in England. The fact that one or more found their way to be made in America is not particularly surprising. I could see an English maker coming here and making chairs or an American copying versions he had seen.

The resurgence of popularity of such chairs later in the century was due to William Morris and most examples of such chairs date to this second period of popularity. I took Jeff's chair to be one of these examples. The idea that it could be an earlier American example did not occur to me. I was not aware of such a thing.

 

No, no, please don't do it Aqui. We love you! We need you!

 

I don't know where Brad's chair is from since he didn't post a link, but if it is really from the early 20th century, then it is based on the Morris Sussex chair, which was first made in 1864. I agree with Brad that both the Morris Sussex chair, and the one made in the Winterthur collection made ca 1800 could likely be based on a country chair from Sussex England. The V&A museum has this to say about the Morris Sussex chair: "This chair was named after a country chair found in Sussex, which inspired the design with the turned frame and rush seat. Similar types of chairs, with imitation bamboo frames and rush seats, were fashionable between 1790 and 1820" https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O7883/sussex-chair-armchair-webb-philip-speakman/

It makes sense that a chair made in New York in 1800 could have been loosely based on a chair made in England from the same time period. So unless Winterthur has their information wrong (which I doubt), I don't think there is much doubt that mine was made in New York ca 1800.

 

The chair I posted came from an English auction catalog with no provenance. I would not take their dating to be definitive but do think it to be a later example.

 

AWWWWW, that's a luvley bunch of hearts AJ!!!! I love it here too much anyway....rest assured....I'm not goin' anywhere....just havin' fun!!!!

 

One CAN'T award the prize to someone and then take it away, I feel I was close with my 1780's guess .. but do you see ME whining ... NOoo, but I'm KEEPING my new bag of WERTHERS FOR MYSELF !!!. WELL DONE Aqui !! yum yum ... Joy.

 

You tell'em Joy!

 

I wasn't far off with my guess.

 

TRUE .. but unfortunately I'm halfway through the bag of Werthers, OMG ...

 

I think I have another related one.

 

Welcome Tim. That is a beauty, and you're right, it is a similar style. Love the painted decoration, somewhat like that on the Winterthur chair.

 

I can not see how the arms were/ are attached. Do you see any nails often a nail can help age the furniture? Are there any dowels used in the construction?

 

No nails. 9/16"-diam. dowels where the arms attach near the front of the seat. The rushes obscure the attachment of the legs under the seat. Otherwise, arms, top rail, spindles, stretchers attached by blind tenons.

 

mid 1800s, likely American. Take the arms off and you have a typical Hitchcock chair but they were widely copied. The original seat would have been rush.

 

That indeed looks like a perfect match. So based on Winterthur example, your is also 1800 to 1815, made in New York city. The only difference between yours and mine is mine missing the wood strip around the seat edge. Also, I think I can explain the difference in paint decoration - mine with none (and no vestiges indicating it ever had any), and the difference between yours and the Winterthur example. Apparently there was a big business in paint decorating furniture in this time period, with decorative painters specializing in that in NYC at this time, when "fancy" chairs were the rage. Can't remember which museum referred to that. But these likely all from the same factory in same black paint, with two of them decorated after purchase to match other furniture or decorator whim (though of course also possible factory included various decorations).

Also, note the turnings are quite different from the typical Hitchcock designs made in later years, which is what made me search for the origin of this chair in the first place.

Must say I'm surprised to see this thread resuscitated. Where in the country are you located? I'm in New England (MA). And how did you find this thread?

 

I'm in Maryland, got the chair in D.C. I found the thread because I searched for "fancy painted furniture" and got to Nancy Goyne Evans's article, then searched for "Cumberland spindles" and found your reference to the Wintherthur chair.

 

This thread is from 2019.