5-slat rocking armchair

1825-1850

Maker

Possibly John Foreman Jr. (1801-1879)

Measurements

41-1/4 in x 24 in x 38-3/4 in

Materials

Maple, rush seat

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.3725

Condition Notes

The paint is worn.

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

This engaging rocking chair, made with five slats across the particularly tall back (that allows the sitter to rest his head), closely resembles chairs made in the Jennersville area of Chester County.  According to Margaret Berwind Schiffer, author of Furniture and Its Makers of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pa.:  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1966), those types of chairs have been traditionally called “Foreman” or “Jennersville” chairs, distinguished by their graduated straight slats and paint decoration.  John Foreman, Jr. (1801-1879) and his namesake father were chair makers there and could have made these chairs.  However, no other evidence links that name to these objects.  

The front posts, which extend upward to support the curved arms, are attractively turned.  The rockers are made of thick pieces of wood.  Also, they extend forward more than usual.

Chairs such as this are often popularly called ladderback rockers because of the slats in the back.

 

Bibliography

Ellen and Bert Denker, The Rocking Chair Book (New York: Mayflower Books, 1979), 51-52, fig. 39.