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Fiddleback Arm Chair
Fiddleback Arm Chair
Fiddleback Arm Chair

Fiddleback Arm Chair

Period1770 - 1800
MediumMaple, ash
Dimensions45.5 × 28.5 × 24.5 in. (115.6 × 72.4 × 62.2 cm)
Inscribed"1779" painted in yellow on the back of the splat
ClassificationsSeating Furniture
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1936
Object number1991.531
DescriptionAn oversized arm chair with a shaped crest rail, the bottom edge of which curves into the splat. The latter is attached to a simple rectangular shoe. Turned rear posts with flattened balls fit into the left and right ends of the crest rail and are pegged into place. Shaped arms end in flattened vertical scrolls, and are supported by baluster turnings that are an extension of the front posts. These turned front posts with flattened balls terminate in small ball feet. All four posts have been ended out. The chair features an unusual pair of bulbous turned front stretchers. The remainder of the frame consists of two pairs of dowel-turned side stretchers, and a single rear stretcher. The woven rush seat has been replaced.
Curatorial RemarksThis chair, made for a very large customer given its oversized dimensions, came from the Van Mater family of Middletown, Monmouth County, according to donor records. The meaning of the date 1779 painted on the reverse of the splat is not now known. In light of its very simple turnings and shape of the arms, the chair may have been made locally, or at least in the central New Jersey / greater New York area.
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