Armchair
This type of armchair with outward curving arms, open sides below the arms, and a concave (as opposed to straight) back is known in France as a "fauteuil en cabriolet." After the Revolution, many Americans cultivated a taste for the goods offered by their most important ally - France. Washington encouraged this trend by furnishing the executive residence with French furniture, ceramics, and glassware.
Upholstered with green silk damask with a repeating pattern of small "0" motifs; cording in the colors of peach, green, and cream outlines the top edges of the upholstered back and seat; decorative brass tack heads along lower edges of seat, back, and the arm pads; back is lined with a large-scale green and white check linen.
Published ReferencesMarion Day Iverson, The American Chair: 1630-1890 (New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1957), 216.