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Side chair
about 1765–85
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Mahogany, soft maple, red oak
Dimensions
Overall: 97.2 x 62.5 x 47.9 cm (38 1/4 x 24 5/8 x 18 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Partial gift of Priscilla Quincy Weld in memory of her mother and grandmother, Ruth Draper Peters and Alice Ames Draper, and Museum purchase with the Elizabeth Marie Paramino Fund in memory of John F. Paramino, Boston Sculptor, Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund, Ernest Kahn Fund, John Wheelock Elliott and John Morse Elliott Fund, Alice M. Bartlett Fund, and Edwin E. Jack Fund
Accession Number1996.52
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsFurniture – Seating and beds
This chair represents the height of the Rococo style in colonial Boston. Closely based on English examples, the chair originally was owned by Moses Gill, of Boston and Princeton, Massachusetts. Gill was a prosperous hardware merchant and a political official who served as lieutenant governor and acting governor of Massachusetts. He was married to Nicholas Boylston's sister Rebecca, whose portrait is on view in the Copley Gallery.
InscriptionsRear seat rail is incised "VI"
Slip-seat frame incised "V"
A brass plaque attached to the chair reads: “This chair belonged to Lieut Gov Moses Gill Bought by Gen Sylvanus Lazell in 1800 (all caps no periods) Inherited by (small caps) Hon. (this underside of rear seat rail) Nahun Mitchell / James Henry Mitchell / Jennet Orr (Mitchell) Copeland / Alices Ames (Copeland) Draper / Ruth Sumner (Draper) Peters.”
Slip-seat frame incised "V"
A brass plaque attached to the chair reads: “This chair belonged to Lieut Gov Moses Gill Bought by Gen Sylvanus Lazell in 1800 (all caps no periods) Inherited by (small caps) Hon. (this underside of rear seat rail) Nahun Mitchell / James Henry Mitchell / Jennet Orr (Mitchell) Copeland / Alices Ames (Copeland) Draper / Ruth Sumner (Draper) Peters.”
ProvenanceMoses Gill (b. 1734 - d. 1800), Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Boston and Princeton, MA; 1800, sold to General Sylvanus Lazell (b. 1752 - d. 1827), Bridgewater (Plymouth), MA; 1827, by inheritance to his daughter Nabby (b. 1778 - d. 1860) and her husband, John Nahum Mitchell (b.1769 - d. 1853), Harvard Class of 1789, Bridgewater (Plymouth), MA; by inheritance to their son, James Henry Mitchell (b. 1812 - d. 1872), Bridgewater (Plymouth), MA; by descent to his daughter, Jennet Orr (Mitchell) Copeland (b. 1850 - d. 1909), East Bridgewater, MA; by descent to Alice Ames (Copeland) Draper (b. 1873 - d. 1967), West Bridgewater, MA; by descent to Ruth Sumner (Draper) Peters (b. 1895 - d. 1986), Milton, MA. August 1994, inherited by Priscilla Q. (Mrs. Lothrop W.) (Peters) Weld, Duxbury, MA; 1996, partial gift of Mrs. Weld to the MFA. (Accession Date March 27, 1996)