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Centripetal Side Chair

Designer Designed by Thomas E. Warren
Manufacturer Manufactured by American Chair Company American
ca. 1849
Not on view
This innovative chair swivels and tilts like a modern desk chair. A similar chair made by The American Chair Company was exhibited at the London Crystal Palace exhibit of 1851. A reviewer in "The Illustrated Exhibitor" described it as "the invention of Mr. Thomas E. Warren." Warren patented the centripetal spring in 1849. A nearly identical chair in the St. Louis Art Museum bears the label "Thomas E. Warren’s American Chair Co."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Centripetal Side Chair
  • Designer: Designed by Thomas E. Warren
  • Manufacturer: Manufactured by American Chair Company (active ca. 1849)
  • Date: ca. 1849
  • Geography: Made in Troy, New York, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Cast iron, wood
  • Dimensions: 31 1/8 x 17 3/4 in. (79.1 x 45.1 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Elinor Merrell, 1977
  • Object Number: 1977.255
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Platform Rocking Chair
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Embroidered picture “Hersilia”, Sarah Lockwood Skelding American, Silk embroidered with silk and metallic thread; paint, American
Embroidered picture “Hersilia”
Sarah Lockwood Skelding
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Side Chair, Frank Lloyd Wright American, Steel, wood, American
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Designer Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Manufacturer Manufactured by The Van Dorn Iron Works Company
ca. 1904
The Magnolia Vase, Tiffany & Co. American, Silver, enamel, gold, and opals, American
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