Description:
This Windsor rocking chair, a form known as a Salem rocker, is branded: "E. R. HOLMAN" under the seat, and was made by Elijah Holman (1780-1857) of Millbury, Massachusetts. Related to rod-back Windsor chairs, the Salem rocker shares the rod-back's shaped crest rail, seven-spindle splat, and cyma curved arms. Relatively affordable, and comfortably designed, the form was popular in New England throughout the second quarter of the nineteenth century. This example is in excellent condition, retaining most of its original painted decoration. The surface is grain painted in imitation of exotic imported rosewood. The crest rail is painted in shades of orange, green, and yellow: the sides with a floral motif enclosed in a gold colored border, and the central lozenge with a flowering grape vine inside a gold colored border. The shaped, out curved back and stiles elegantly transition to cyma-curved arms with flared, scrolled handholds. There is a single stretcher on each side, which, like the legs, feature light incised rings, ornamented with gold colored paint. The seat has a similar incised border, also ornamented with gold colored paint. Holman worked as a Windsor-chair maker in Worcester County from around 1825 to 1845. Not much is known about his career, but he was documented in 1827 as one of three Windsor-chair makers contracted by Henry Wilder Miller (1800-1891), the owner of a Windsor chair factory in Worcester, who contracted craftsmen to make parts for as well as finished chairs to supplement on-site production. In 1851, Holmes was one of a group of men who unsuccessfully petitioned the Massachusetts State Legislature to transfer a section of the town of Auburn to Millbury.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2019.20 |
