Incollect Magazine - Issue 4

Incollect Magazine 95 2023 the maker is unknown, a distinct feature of this inlay is the tulip-like flower that appears repeatedly throughout the design. The clusters of four separated dots (or berries) are also particular to this subgroup. Side chair labeled by William Savery One of the most studied furnituremakers in eighteenth- century Philadelphia, William Savery opened his own shop in 1742 at the age of 21. Prior to this, he served as an apprentice to fellow Quaker Solomon Fussell (1704– 1762) and honed his craft as a chairmaker. Savery’s shop was capable of making fashionable walnut and mahogany furniture but specialized in utilitarian chairs, usually made of maple and fitted with rush seats. The Dietrich Foundation’s chair retains part of Savery’s original label, which advertises “All Sorts of Chairs and/ Joiners Work/ Made and Sold by/ William Savery/ At the Sign of the/ Chair, a little be/low the Market, in/ Second Street/ Philadelphia.” Earlier Savery labels specify “All sorts of rush bottom chairs” but this must have proved too limiting and was removed. The use of bulrush was less expensive than a woven fabric seat, as was the choice of maple rather than walnut or imported mahogany. Other typical Savery chair features seen here are the use of a modest crest rail, simple turned stretcher, and blocky cabriole legs (referred to as a “crookt foot” in the ledgers of Solomon Fussell). 4 Windsor armchair branded by Thomas Gilpin Windsor chairs were arguably the most popular form of seating furniture in Philadelphia during the mid-to-late 1700s. First introduced from England, they were made in the city by the 1750s. Thomas Gilpin was the first known Philadelphia Windsor chairmaker to mark or brand his chairs. Born into a prominent Pennsylvania Quaker family, Gilpin worked in Philadelphia from the late 1740s until his death in 1766. The Dietrich Foundation’s example is branded “T GILPIN” underneath the seat pommel and is one of the few extant chairs marked by Gilpin. This armchair contains multiple features characteristic of early Philadelphia Windsor chairs, some of which Gilpin probably introduced. These include the turned arm supports and carved volutes on the ends of the crest rail, whereas most English examples have flat arm supports and the ends of the crest were left plain. Windsor chairs were almost always painted to hide Left, Fig. 5: Side chair, labeled by William Savery (1721/22–1787), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1765–1780. Maple, cedar, rush. H. 40⅛, W. 21⅞, D. 19¾ inches. Collection of the Dietrich American Foundation (8.1.2.1297). Photo by Gavin Ashworth. Right, Fig. 6: Windsor armchair, branded by Thomas Gilpin (1700–1766), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1755–1760. Poplar, hickory, oak, ash, paint. H. 40⅝, W. 22⅝, D. 20½ inches. Collection of the Dietrich American Foundation (8.1.4.HRD.534). Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

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