Description:
One of a set of eight painted balloon-seat, rush-bottom fancy chairs, consisting of two arm chairs and six side chairs. The rectangular crest rails with flared upper corners are stencilled with grape leaves and clusters above three turned, closely spaced lower rails. The armchairs have scrolled arms. The ring-turned front legs taper to button feet and are connected by a stretcher with a central lozenge-shaped flat element with its face set at an angle. Sets of stretchers join the front legs with the canted, tapered rear legs and a single stretcher joins the rear legs. Although the chairs have no known history of ownership, they are an important survival as a group. Their paint decoration has survived in a remarkable state of preservation and several in the set also appear to retain their original rush seats. Acquired at an auction in Plainfield, NH, the set was possibly made and used in the upper Connecticut River Valley region of Massachusetts or New Hampshire. The decoration is meant to mimic a mottled exotic veneer such as rosewood, or possibly tortoiseshell. The stencilled gilded decoration and the gilding on the turnings were executed with bronze powder, dusted onto a thin, clear varnish coat that had been applied over the painted ground and allowed to cure to a nearly dry-to-the-touch tacky state. Embellishments such as stems, tendrils and borders, were added in gold paint, and a final coat of varnish was applied to the finished chair.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2006.30.7 |
