Side Chair
This chair and another in the collection (37.81.2) belong to a large group of seating furniture with carved ornament attributed to Samuel McIntire, a highly skilled architect and carver in Salem, Massachusetts. The bellflowers on the front legs and the urn with draped fabric on the back—standard motifs of the neoclassical style in the United State—were borrowed from decoration found on ancient Greek and Roman ceramics. The design for this vase-back chair was based on plate IId in Hepplewhite and Company's "The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide" (London, 1788).
Artwork Details
- Title: Side Chair
- Maker: Attributed to Samuel McIntire (1757–1811)
- Date: 1794–99
- Geography: Made in Salem, Massachusetts, United States
- Culture: American
- Medium: Mahogany, ash, birch, white pine
- Dimensions: 39 1/2 x 21 1/4 x 18 in. (100.3 x 54 x 45.7 cm)
- Credit Line: Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1937
- Object Number: 37.81.1
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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