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Side chair
Attributed to: Nathaniel Gould (American, 1734–1781)
about 1770
Object Place: Salem, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Mahogany, maple, pine
Dimensions
Overall: 93.3 x 56.5 x 45.7 cm (36 3/4 x 22 1/4 x 18 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds by exchange from a Gift of Mary W. Bartol, John W. Bartol, and Abigail W. Clark, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Weller, Bequest of Mrs. Stephen S. FitzGerald, Bequest of Dr. Samuel A. Green, Gift of Gilbert L. Steward, Jr., Gift of Mrs. Daniel Risdon, Gift of Miss Elizabeth Clark in memory of Mary R. Crowninshield, Gift of Mrs. Clark McIlwaine, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Russell W. Knight—Collection of Ralph E. and Myra T. Tibbetts, Gift of Elizabeth Shapleigh, Gift of Miss Harriet A. Robeson, Gift of the John Gardner Greene Estate, Bequest of Barbara Boylston Bean, Gift of Miss Catherine W. Faucon, Gift of Jerrold H. Barnett and Joni Evans Barnett, and Gift of Dr. Martha M. Eliot
Accession Number2004.2062
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsFurniture – Seating and beds
In addition to immigrant craftsmen and imported objects, engraved furniture designs were an important means of transmission of the Rococo style from England to America. This chair is based largely on a plate in Thomas Chippendale's "Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director" (London, 1762). Although copies of the "Director" were owned in New England, few surviving examples of furniture relate closely to the book's designs. This chair is an important exception, demonstrating the influence of imported pattern and design books in colonial Boston.
Inscriptions"N.E.Boyd" in script, modern, on underside of rear seat rail in white paint,representing an earlier owner.
ProvenanceMr. N. E. Boyd; purchased from Mr. Boyd in December 1949 by Vincent Dyckman Andrus (1915-1972), Greenwich, Connecticut, former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; by descent to his wife, Dorelle Moulton Andrus (1917-2002); purchased in 2004 from Bernard and S. Dean Levy, Inc., New York (Accession Date December 15, 2004)