Corner Commode Chair
Corner Commode Chair
Robert Walker (c. 1710–1777) and Shop
King George County, Virginia
1755–1760
Mahogany
HOA: 31 ¾”, WOA: 30 ¼”, 26″
Gift of Frank L. Horton (2921)
In 1743 Spence Monroe – father of the future president – entered into an indenture with King George County, Virginia cabinetmaker Robert Walker. In that indenture Walker promised to teach not only Monroe, but also his slave Muddy “the Trade & Mystery of a Joyner.” As a mark of Monroe’s elevated social status he was allowed to “Eat in Company with the said Rob. Walker or the Chief of his Journeymen.” By contrast, the enslaved Muddy was to be “Employed in no Other Business than in the way of the said Trade and Shop Business. Only a Day or two at Planting or gathering Corn or on Such Emergency Occasions.”
Learn more about this object in MESDA’s online collection catalog.
