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Photo: Courtesy The Chipstone Foundation, Fox Point, Wis., 1981.5
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Fire screen

Object number

RIF965

Maker

Maker Unknown

Dimensions

Height, base: 58 in. (147.32 cm) Screen: 12 3/8 × 15 1/4 in. (31.43 × 38.74 cm)

Date

1790–1805

Current location

The Chipstone Foundation

Geography

Made in Newport, Rhode Island
(view a map of Rhode Island)

Medium

Mahogany and light wood inlay

Marks

None

Inscriptions

None

Provenance

John Walton, Inc., Griswold and Jewett City, Connecticut; sold to Polly Mariner Stone (1898–1995) and Stanley Stone (1896–1987), Fox Point, Wisconsin, 1981; bequeathed by Stanley Stone to The Chipstone Foundation, Fox Point, Wisconsin, 1987

Associated names

John S. Walton, Inc.
Stanley Stone
Polly Mariner Stone

Construction

"The octagonal-screen back frame is made of broad mahogany rails with central cross braces. The mahogany moldings which frame the glass in place are joined together by small butterfly dovetails and fit around the back frame. Brass rings attached to the frame, one with a screw, hold the screen in place. The pole is inserted into the pillar which, in turn, screws via a threaded extension into the triangular base. The legs are attached to the base dovetail fashion and are reinforced with a three-fingered iron brace. The silk needlework depicts a basket of flowers and is probably original. The upper parts of the legs are inlaid with a lightwood tulip-and-dot motif." Source: Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984), 422.

Bibliography

Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984), 422–423, no. 198, ill.