Armchair
Original OwnerOriginally owned by
Rebecca Wilcox
(American, 1805 - 1888)
Original OwnerPossibly originally owned by
Abagail Bacon
(American, born 1784)
Original OwnerPossibly originally owned by
Sylvester Wilcox
(born 1782)
Furniture MakerMade by
Unknown
Date1790-1815
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width x depth): 35 3/16 x 20 1/2 x 19 11/16in. (89.4 x 52.1 x 50cm)
ClassificationsFurniture
Credit LineGift of Theora J. Bunnell
Object number1958.9.2
DescriptionArmchair in the Windsor style, with a continuous bow-back, bamboo-turned posts, legs, and stretchers, and a plank seat. The continuous bow back consists of a bow, or a wooden stick, bent in an arch that sweeps forward at each side to form arms. The bow is supported by eleven slender spindles of varying height and a three-part bamboo-turned posts at each side. The arch of the bow is molded with triple beading; the top of the arms are flat. The continuous bow-back is slanted back; the spindles and posts are joined to the seat in a semi-circular arrangement. The plank seat is shield shaped and has a saddled seat, or a has a contoured upper surface with a projecting ridge at the front center, with flat surface at the back where the bow-back joins the seat. The sides and front of the plank are chamfered, or cut at an angle. Below the seat are four turned legs that are raked, or slanted out from top to bottom; each leg has three-part bamboo turnings. Each side of the chair has a single stretcher with an ovoid turning in the center. Between the stretcher is a single medial stretcher, with two-part bamboo turnings.
Condition: The joint where the right stretcher joins the back leg has been re-glued or repaired. The armchair is refinished.
Design and Construction Details: The bow is supported on a through tenon at the top of each spindle and post. Most of these joints have a small wedge through the end of the tenon, and six of the eleven are pinned. Each spindle is tenoned down into the spindle platform. Each post is tenoned down through the plank seat; each of these also has a wedge through the end of the tenon. The spindle platform is outlined with a narrow groove. The seat is constructed of a solid plank of wood and supported on a tenon at the top of each leg. The side stretchers are tenoned into the lower legs. The medial stretcher is tenoned into the side stretchers. All the tenons are inserted at an angle, where necessary, to give the proper slant to the bow and each of the spindles and legs.
Condition: The joint where the right stretcher joins the back leg has been re-glued or repaired. The armchair is refinished.
Design and Construction Details: The bow is supported on a through tenon at the top of each spindle and post. Most of these joints have a small wedge through the end of the tenon, and six of the eleven are pinned. Each spindle is tenoned down into the spindle platform. Each post is tenoned down through the plank seat; each of these also has a wedge through the end of the tenon. The spindle platform is outlined with a narrow groove. The seat is constructed of a solid plank of wood and supported on a tenon at the top of each leg. The side stretchers are tenoned into the lower legs. The medial stretcher is tenoned into the side stretchers. All the tenons are inserted at an angle, where necessary, to give the proper slant to the bow and each of the spindles and legs.
Status
Not on view
