Pair of Side Chairs

1794–99

Carving attributed to Samuel McIntire (American, 1757–1811)
Salem, Massachusetts

The design of these chairs was taken almost directly from plate two of Englishman George Hepplewhite’s 1788 edition of The Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer’s Guide, a pattern book that was available in America. The two chairs are part of a set of eight that may have originally been made for Salem merchant Elias Hasket Derby. The house for which these chairs were made was designed by Samuel McIntire, the craftsman to whom the carving on the chairs is attributed.

Status: On View, Gallery 169
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Samuel McIntire
Title: Pair of Side Chairs
Place: Salem (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. 1794–1799
Medium: Mahogany, ash, birch, and upholstery
Dimensions: Each: 97.2 × 54 × 47 cm (38 1/4 × 21 1/4 × 18 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society through the Edith Almy Adams Fund
Reference Number: 1938.1321-1322
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/89630/manifest.json

Mildred Davison, “Important Gifts from the Antiquarians,” Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 33, 5 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1939), 100 (ill.).
Meyric Reynold Rogers, “American Interior Design: The Traditions and Development of Domestic Design from Colonial Times to the Present,” (Bonanza Books, 1947), 101 (ill.).
The Antiquarian Society (The Art Institute of Chicago, 1951), no. 39.
Meyric R. Rogers, “American Decorative Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago,” 74, 1 Antiques (July 1958), 49–56 (ill.).
Barbara Wriston, “American Furniture in the Collection,” The Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 57 (Spring 1963), 32 (ill.)
Milo M. Naeve, Classical Presence in American Art (Art Institute of Chicago, 1976), 21, no. 24.
Tom Armstrong, “The New Field–McCormick Galleries in the Art Institute of Chicago,” Magazine Antiques 134, 4 (Oct. 1988), 822–35.
Milo M. Naeve, Identifying American Furniture, 2nd ed., (American Association for State and Local History, 1989), 14 (ill.).
Milo M. Naeve, Identifying American Furniture, 3rd ed., (American Association for State and Local History, 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), 110–111, no. 40.

Art Institute of Chicago, American Interior Design: The Traditions and Development of Domestic Design from Colonial Times to the Present, 1947, cat. 82.
Art Institute of Chicago, Antiquarian Society of The Art Institute of Chicago, The First One Hundred Years, Apr. 23–June 19, 1977, cat. 144.

Probably Elias Haskett Derby (1739–1799), Salem, MA, by 1799; probably estate of Elias Haskett Derby, 1799; by descent to his son-in-law Captain Nathaniel West Sr. (1756–1851) and daughter Elizabeth Derby West (1762–1814), Salem and Danvers (now Peabody), MA, 1799 [Nathaniel and Elizabeth divorced in 1806, at which time the McIntire chairs either stayed with Elizabeth at Oak Hill in Danvers or went with Nathaniel to 34 Chestnut Street or 5–9 Summer Street (built 1834), both in Salem]. Possibly bequeathed by Elizabeth to her three daughters Martha Derby West (1787–1851), Elizabeth (Eliza) West Lander (1790–1849), and Sarah Derby West (1797–1819), 1814 [upon Sarah’s death in 1814, Nathaniel West Sr. regained 1/3 ownership of Oak Hill and its contents, and upon Elizabeth West Lander’s death in 1849, her share passed by descent to her husband Edward Lander (1787–1862), who then transferred his share of Oak Hill to his father-in-law Nathaniel West Sr. in 1849; West sold Oak Hill in 1850 and would have transferred its remaining contents at that time to one of his 5–9 Summer Street townhouses in Salem]. By descent to Nathaniel West Sr.’s son Richard West (died 1879); by descent to his son William C. West (1844–1928), Boston, 1879; by descent to his wife, Abbie C. Farley West (died 1932), Boston, 1928; estate of Abbie C. Farley West, Boston, 1932; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1938.

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