Description:
One of a set of nine fancy side chairs (2009.18.5-2009.18.13) with lyre-shaped backs and balloon seats, which were purchased by Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams (1761-1838) and Anna Smith Williams (1770-1852) either for the south parlor or dining room of their Deerfield home after the completion of extensive renovations and expansion in 1816. It is not clear who made this set of chairs or where they were made, possibly in Greenfield. By the 1820s, specialized turners produced large quantities of fancy chairs for wholesale distribution to distant storekeepers, who retailed them to the public. These chairmakers included Luther Davis of Northampton, Massachusetts, and Horace Lee of Springfield, Massachusetts, who advertised in 1820: "Rose Wood and Fancy CHAIRS, of every description, made after the newest Patterns, painted and gilt in the newest style" produced in his "New Chair Manufactury." An ornamental painter embellished the Williams' set with stencilled designs applied with bronze powder and red paint on a black ground. The pierced lyre-shaped splat is set between the seat rail and crest with rolled top edge. The crest, flat faces of the rear stiles, splat, seat rail, seat facing, front legs and stretcher retain their original stencilled and painted decoration applied with powdered metallic pigments with grape, foliate and geometric designs picked out in green and red paint and gold-colored metallic powdered pigment on a black ground. This chair has a balloon seat with faced rails supported on a turned frame with rectangular front stretcher. Although the black-painted rush seats were replaced in the early twentieth century, they follow the style of the original painted rush seats. According to a handwritten list of family objects in the file by Elizabeth Hawks Wells (1845-1938), the wife of George Merritt Wells (1839-1883) of Deerfield: "47. Nine harp-backed chairs which belonged to Ann Williams Howard. Willed to my sister Mary by Aunt Kate Allen who was Aunt by courtesy - or rather affectionate consideration. Aunt Kate Allen was a cousin of Anna Williams who became Mrs. Howard." The daughter of Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams and Anna Smith Williams, Anna McCarthy Williams (1799-1822) married Charles Howard of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1818. "Aunt Kate" was Catherine Elizabeth Bardwell (1812-1889) who married Caleb Allen (1808-1862) in 1842 and lived in the Allen House on Main St., Deerfield. These chairs came from the Viola Wilby estate. The rear seat rail, crest rail, and the proper right rear leg are red, or soft, maple. The front stretcher is sugar, or hard, maple. The lyre section of the splat is birch.
Label Text:
It is possible that this set is the product of a local cabinetmaker’s shop, such as that of Greenfield cabinetmaker and shopkeeper, Daniel Clay. In November 1810, Clay advertised an extensive inventory of general store merchandise, including “Fancy, Dining and Cottage Chairs, with good material and hands [i.e. skilled journeymen] to make more on short notice.” In 1824, Greenfield chairmaker Daniel Munger formed a partnership with Clay, advertising “Chairs of every description, such as Fancy, Grecian, Dining & Rocking Chairs…at the shortest notice.” With their unusual lyre-shaped splats, it is possible that these fancy chairs are the “Grecian chairs” of Munger’s advertisement.
This side chair is from a set of nine chairs that Ebenezer and Anna Hinsdale Williams purchased either for the south parlor or dining room of their Deerfield home after the completion of extensive renovations in 1816. Although the painted, twisted-fiber seats are replaced, the chairs retain their original painted and stenciled decoration applied with powdered metallic pigments.It is not clear who made this set of chairs or where they were made. By the 1820s, specialized turners produced large quantities of fancy chairs for wholesale distribution to distant storekeepers, who retailed them to the public. It is possible that this set is the product of a local cabinetmaker’s shop, such as that of Greenfield cabinetmaker and shopkeeper, Daniel Clay. In November 1810, Clay advertised an extensive inventory of general store merchandise, including “Fancy, Dining and Cottage Chairs, with good material and hands [i.e. skilled journeymen] to make more on short notice.” In 1824, Greenfield chairmaker Daniel Munger formed a partnership with Clay, advertising “Chairs of every description, such as Fancy, Grecian, Dining & Rocking Chairs…at the shortest notice.” With their unusual lyre-shaped splats, it is possible that these fancy chairs are the “Grecian chairs” of Munger’s advertisement.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2009.18.8 |
