Incollect Magazine - Issue 4

Issue 4 96 www.incollect.com the amalgamation of woods used to build them. Traces of the original green paint, a popular color for Windsors in the eighteenth century, remain underneath the seat and on the ends of the turned elements. The green is currently covered with a red layer covered by a dark varnish. One of the most unusual aspects of this Windsor armchair is its diminutive size. The chair is so perfectly proportioned that it may be difficult to detect that it appears made for a young person rather than an adult. At 40⅝ inches high, the chair is several inches shorter than most Philadelphia Windsors of similar form. The seat is also smaller and lower than full-size examples. Queen Anne side chair The exhibition includes two examples of Philadelphia Queen Anne side chairs, both with the upholstered compass seats and curvilinear forms that characterize this style. Both are also made of walnut, which had not yet been surpassed by mahogany for use in fine furniture. The illustrated example is distinguished by its rounded rear stiles—a refinement over the more typical flat stiles. The chair is further embellished with carved volutes and shells on the knees and crest rail. Its pierced splat evokes a sense of delicacy in the chair’s upper section, contrasting with the sturdiness of earlier chairs in the exhibit with solid splats or paneled backs. This chair is marked with the Roman numeral “V” indicating it was once part of a set; two other examples from the same set are in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Chippendale side chair Trapezoidal seats and rectilinear backs are among the design transitions from the Queen Anne to Chippendale style. The pierced splats, however, are still nearly identical in shape to that on the Queen Anne chair. Made of mahogany, the chair in figure 8 is a tour de force of Philadelphia carving. It is attributed to the “Garvan carver,” a highly talented but unidentified craftsman whose expert carving adorns a large body of Philadelphia furniture from about 1750 to 1765. The foliate carving on the crest rail is far less common than the usual shell or cabochon typically found on Philadelphia Chippendale chairs. Over-upholstered chairs The latest two chairs in the exhibition are distinguished by the use of over-upholstery, a costly treatment that would Left, Fig. 7: Side chair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1745–1760. Walnut, pine. H. 41, W. 21½, D. 20 inches. Collection of the Dietrich American Foundation (8.1.2.HRD.1375). Photo by Gavin Ashworth. Right, Fig. 8: Side chair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1755–1765. Mahogany, cedar. H. 39¾, W. 24, D. 20½ inches. Collection of the Dietrich American Foundation (8.1.2.1270). Photo by Gavin Ashworth.