Armchair

Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place Made
Albermarle, North Carolina
Date Made
1710-1740
Medium
maple, hickory
Dimensions
HOA: 46; WOA: 23 7/8; DOA: 18 1/4
Accession Number
C-359
Description
An armchair with a back that consists of two sections with six bulbous spindles on top and five below. Sunk bead around outside and inside of arms which end in curved handlehold. Below each arm rail are five spindles which are enlarged at the center and tapered at the ends. Back posts end in ball and reel upon ball finials. Two stretchers on each side with two curved, incised lines on each.

WOODS: Maple with hickory base rounds.

History
STYLE: This chair relates to a chair in the collection of the Mint Museum of History (Hezekiah Alexander House) in its heavily beaded sawn arms and rear feet defined by decorative turning, a detail common in Carolina and Virginia into the 19th century, but less often seen in the North. Chairs with rear feet delineated in this fashion often also have decorative turnings on the rear base rounds, a detail not often observed on chairs made outside the South. The vigorous finials and arms of this chair suggest a somewhat earlier date than the Mint Museum example.
Credit Line
Wachovia Historical Society Collection