High-back Windsor armchair

1785-1800

Measurements

40-5/8 in x 25 in x 24 in

Materials

Tulip poplar* (seat), oak* (crest), hickory* (spindles), and maple* (arm support, arm rail, legs, and stretchers)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.3765

Condition Notes

The arm bow has split just outside the far right spindle.  The chair was stripped of all paint and repainted a dark green.

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

This attractive high-back Windsor has a thick, modeled arm-bow that terminates in well-carved knuckles. The baluster-turned arm supports angle forward, animating the chair design.  The seven tall spindles socketed into the serpentine crest seem to cluster below the out-stretched, volute-carved ears.  The shield-shaped seat is also fluidly carved.  Many of the design features were used in several regions in the Northeast, but the combination of woods helps identify a place of origin. Similarly, the shield-shaped seat suggests a time frame.

The paint is likely later—applied after the chair had been stripped.  It has been repainted a dark green in a manner to suggest age and use.