ARMCHAIR
c. 1680 - 1700
Tidewater Virginia
Black Cherry
HOA: 42”, WOA: 23 1/2”
MESDA Purchase Fund (acc. 3899)
This armchair may be the earliest known surviving Southern chair. Unlike the earliest turned chairs in New England, southern turned chairs have arms that project over the front legs. It is a feature often found in continental European chairs and testifies to the important role that non-English craftsmen played in defining early southern seating traditions.
