Side Chair

1750–55

Artist unknown (American, 18th century)
Philadelphia

This chair, part of a set of at least eight, was originally purchased by John Wister for his house, Grumblethorpe, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Wister built the house in 1744, and the chairs were most likely made soon after its completion. The style of the chair is transitional, between the late Baroque and the early Rococo. The pierced chair back and the ruffled shell on the seat rail were popular treatments on Baroque-style chairs. The elaborate carving, rectangular backs, and trapezoidal seat were mainstays of chair design in the Rococo period.

Status: On View, Gallery 167
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Artist unknown
Title: Side Chair
Place: Philadelphia (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1750–1755
Medium: Mahogany with tulip poplar and upholstery
Inscriptions: Incised on inside rear seat rail: "V"
Dimensions: 97 × 56.5 × 40 cm (39 1/2 × 22 1/4 × 15 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Robert R. McCormick Charitable Trust Fund
Reference Number: 1979.1029
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/58979/manifest.json

Milo M. Naeve, Identifying American Furniture (Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1981), 31, (ill. 10).
Milo M. Naeve, Identifying American Furniture, 2nd ed. (Nashville, American Association for State and Local History, 1989), 31, (ill. 10).
Milo M. Naeve, “Twentieth–Century Craft: A Compass for Research,” A Neglected History: Twentieth Century Craft (New York: American Craft Museum, 1990), 45–59, fig. 16.
Milo M. Naeve, Identifying American Furniture, Colonial to Contemporary, 3rd ed. (American Association for State and Local History/AltaMira Press, 1997), ill.
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 84–85, no. 25.

Historical Society of York County, The Philadelphia Chair, 1685–1785, May 28–Sept. 23, 1978.

John Wister, Germantown, MA, from 1750/55; Joseph J. Kindig, York, Penn., to 1979; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1979.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.