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Side chair (one of a pair)
Probably carved by: John Welch (American, 1711–1789)
Possibly embroidered by: Margaret Fayerweather Bromfield (American, 1732–1761)
Possibly embroidered by: Margaret Fayerweather Bromfield (American, 1732–1761)
about 1750–60
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Walnut, white pine, maple, original needlework seat
Dimensions
Overall: 97.8 x 55.9 x 46.7cm (38 1/2 x 22 x 18 3/8in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Jean Wagniere, in memory of her mother Henrietta Slade Warner (Mrs. Henry Eldridge Warner)
Accession Number68.840
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsFurniture – Seating and beds
These chairs are an elaborate version of a conventional Boston design. The standard shape-curved crest rail; solid, vase-shaped splat (back); rounded seat; and cabriole (S-curved) front legs-is ornamented with shells on the knees and crest rail. The execution suggests the hand of John Welch, Boston's premier carver. The chairs descended in the Fayerweather and Bromfield families; family tradition indicates that Margaret Fayerweather embroidered the seat covers.
Inscriptions"V" scratched into seat frame
ProvenanceOwned by Henry Bromfield, a Boston and London,merchant, and his wife (m. 1749) Margaret Fayerweather (1732-1761) who, family tradition says, did the needlework seats. Descended in the Bromfield-Weld family. By 1872, possibly owned by Mrs. I.H.T. Blanchard, Harvard, MA; by descent to Miss Margaret Bromfield Slade, Boston; by descent in 1943 to Henrietta Slade Warner (Mrs. Henry Eldridge Warner), Lincoln, MA; by descent in 1955 to her daughter, Mrs. Jean Frederic Wagniere (Margaret Warner) Wagniere, Switzerland; 1968, year-end gift of Mrs. Jean Frederic to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 8, 1969)