Side chair

Status

Not on view

Label Text

Crafted with simple lines and minimal decoration, this chair, one of a set of four at Mount Vernon, reflects the "neat and plain" aesthetic common to Virginia furniture of the eighteenth century. It was originally owned by Dr. James Craik, a longtime friend of George Washington.

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Date1760-1800

Geography Probably made - United States

Medium/TechniqueMahogany or walnut (primary)

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 37 in. x 21 1/4 in. x 19 3/8 in. (93.98 cm x 53.98 cm x 49.23 cm)

Credit LineGift of Betsy Gilmer Tremain, 2003

Object numberH-4325

DescriptionSide chair with a serpentine crest rail and scrolled-back ears, a strapwork splat seated in the rear rail and surrounded by a separate, beaded, removable shoe, a trapezoidal seat upholstered over the rails, and straight, square or Marlborough front legs beaded on their outside corners joined by H-mounted stretchers and a rear stretcher mounted higher between the rear legs. Pierced splat formed from two pairs of opposing C-scrolls that emerge from the center of the crest and scroll outward to rest on four outward flaring ribs that rise from the base of the splat. Crest rail and raked-back rear stiles are flat on front and rounded at back. Raked-back rear legs, single-pegged on their backs and double-pegged on their sides, with square feet. Side and rear stretchers secured with a single peg on each side. Stiles tenoned into crest and secured with a single peg.

Upholstered over the rails in pink or faded red velvet, cut with a grid of small squares, with a double-row of self-fabric piping along the lower edge of the sides and front of the seat frame; underside covered with muslin.

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