Side Chair
This chair is thought to be from a set of twenty-four oval-back chairs that the Salem merchant Elias Hasket Derby (1739-1799) ordered from Philadelphia in 1796. The elliptical shape of the chair back is derived from Neoclassical London design as interpreted in George Hepplewhite's "The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide" (1788). In this instance the ostrich plumes and foliate designs are painted directly on a white ground rather than carved or made from applied composition ornament.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
