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Photo: Courtesy private collection
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Side chair

Object number

RIF5613

Maker

Maker, possibly by John Carlile and Sons, active 1789–1803

Dimensions

38 × 21 3/8 × 22 1/2 in. (96.52 × 54.29 × 57.15 cm)

Date

1789–1803

Current location

Private collection

Geography

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

Medium

Mahogany (primary); maple (proper rear brace); birch (rear seat rail)

Marks

None

Inscriptions

"B," in graphite, on inside rear rail of seat frame

Provenance

Private collection, 1989

Construction

The shield-shaped back has a molded and beaded frame. At the arched crest is a feather-carved fan above a reeded urn from which depend acanthus-carved swags, above a carved, footed support, all within a stylized ellipse. Five shaped uprights below sit upon a fan-carved base. The shaped stiles are molded and beaded similarly to the frame and chamfered at the rear, as is the shield-shaped back. The rear rail is molded at the top and joins the rear legs in mortise and tenon joints, exhibiting one pin each. The side rails join the rear legs in mortise and through-tenon joints. The tapered legs are joined by rectangular H-form stretchers, tenoned into each other and each leg. Within the seat frame are diagonal braces at each corner and (later) reinforcing blocks at each rail. Examined by P. E. Kane and W. S. Braznell, August 22, 2012; notes compiled by T. B. Lloyd.

See also