Side chair (one of a pair)

1750-1780

Measurements

41-3/4 in x 24 in x 20-5/8 in

Materials

Walnut; hard pine (slip seat)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1958.3291

Inscription

The side chair with acc. no. 1958.3291.1 has "II" chiseled into the front seat rabbet and slip seat number “IIII.”  Chair .2 has "I" chiseled into the front seat rabbet and slip seat "I."

Condition Notes

All of the corner blocks inside the seat frame have been replaced.

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

The pair of side chairs have strapwork splats made of walnut.  Chair 1958.3291.1 (photographed) has a noticeable stripe in the walnut.  That figure is not evident in other parts of the chair nor in chair 1958.3291.2.  The splat is among the earliest of pierced designs.  Another early feature is the scratch-bead that runs around the outside edges of the rear stiles and crest rail.  Elsewhere, the chairs have side seat rails that are tenoned through the rear stiles, and the rear legs are chamfered to be octagonal in cross-sections.  The undercutting of the front and side seat rails is characteristic, as is the thumbnail or quarter-round molding along the tops of the seat rails.