Roundabout Chair

Date1740-1780

MediumMaple, rush

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width x depth): 29 7/8 x 27 3/8 x 26 3/4in. (75.9 x 69.5 x 67.9cm)

ClassificationsFurniture

Credit LineBequest of Martha R. Lambert

Object number1979.68.906

DescriptionMaple roundabout chair in the William and Mary, or early Baroque, style, with a semi-circular crest and arm rails, turned stiles, legs and stretchers, and a square rush seat. The back of the chair is formed by a flat crest rail with a tapered, undulating end at each side, atop a semi-circular arm rail with a flat, scrolled handhold at each end. This is supported at the sides and back of the chair with three stiles turned with an elongated baluster form above the seat, alternating block and baluster forms below the seat, and a small turned foot. The rush seat is square, and is supported by the three stiles at the sides and back, and by a leg at the front. The front leg consists of a separate block over turned, alternating block and baluster forms, over a Spanish foot. The two front sides of the chair have a single stretcher connecting the legs, which is turned with double-baluster-and-ring forms, while the two back sides of the chair each have two plain, turned stretchers.

Condition: All of the joints have been re-glued. The lower portion of the lap joint, where the tenon at the top of the stile extends up into the arm rail, has broken. The joint was glued together and repaired with a nail through the back. The rush seat is original; one seat rail is broken and the rush is sagging down in the center. The front leg is well worn and scratched; a small portion of one turned ring is missing. The feet are cut down. Some residue of the original stain finish remains. Small nails in the two front seat rails and the block at the top of the front leg suggest that this seat was upholstered over the rush at one time.

Design and Construction Details: The crest rail is constructed of a single piece of wood. The flat arm rail is constructed in two curved sections that are joined in the center with an elongated lap joint. The arm and crest rail are joined with glue and a single iron nail through the underside. The arm rail is supported on round tenons at the top of the three stiles. The seat rails are cylindrical (one is broken), and are tenoned into the stiles and into a block at the top of the front leg. The block is supported on a tenon at the top of the front leg. The stretchers are tenoned into the stiles and the front leg. Incised lines circling the stiles mark the placement of the seat rail and stretchers.

NotesSubject Note: Roundabout chairs, or corner chairs, can be found in Connecticut inventories as early as 1705, when Israel Chauncey's estate was assessed in Stratford. They were made by urban craftsmen up to the time of the Revolution, and continued to be produced by rural chairmakers into the nineteenth century. At times, roundabout chairs were produced en suite with larger groups of furniture, or they were made in pairs. The precise function of roundabout chairs has not been determined. Due to their form, they were well suited for use as desk or writing chairs. Roundabout chairs may have also served as library chairs, as suggested by a portrait of John Bours by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) in the Worcester Art Museum (1908.7). The portrait shows John Bours seated in a roundabout chair with a book in his hand. (Hunt 3/30/2006)

Status

Not on view