Bow-back Windsor armchair

1798-1805

Maker

William McElroy (working mid 1790s to c. 1820)

Measurements

38-1/4 in x 23-1/2 in x 20-3/4 in

Materials

Tulip poplar* (seat), mahogany* (arms), oak* (bow), hickory* (spindles), maple* (arm supports, legs, and stretchers)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.597

Inscription

“W.M’Elroy” is stamped into the underside of the seat near the front edge.

Condition Notes

A record in the object folder states that one front leg was broken and repaired, but coats of paint now hide the repair.  In the 1970s, the chair had been repainted light green to match other visitor seating in the Corbit-Sharp House front hall; it was repainted a darker green in 2022.

Provenance

Bequest of Dr. and Mrs. J. Newberry Reynolds to The David Wilson Mansion, Inc., in 1942.

Comments

Although made in a little town about twelve miles east of Philadelphia, this Windsor exhibits all the refinements associated with urban products.  The mahogany arms are immediately apparent, but closer inspection shows them to be nicely detailed with narrow scratch beads inside and out and carved volute handholds.  The chair-back bow, which encloses nine bamboo-shaped spindles, has reverse curves just above the shield-shaped seat into which they are tenoned.  The legs are also turned in the bamboo style.

Bibliography

Nancy Goyne Evans, American Windsor Chairs (1996), pp. 181-182, fig. 4-37.