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Bow Back Windsor Side Chair
Bow Back Windsor Side Chair
Bow Back Windsor Side Chair

Bow Back Windsor Side Chair

Maker
Period1785 - 1805
MediumMaple, ash, and poplar seat
Dimensions36.5 × 18.75 × 17 in. (92.7 × 47.6 × 43.2 cm)
InscribedNumber "41" in a circle painted in orange on the underside of the seat, denoting a Moreau collection number.
SignedChair branded on the underside of the seat, "S. JAQUES."
ClassificationsSeating Furniture
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Maude Applegate Smith Moreau, 1964
Object number2017.705
DescriptionThe maple frame features nine taper-turned ash wood spindles and continuous bow set into a tulip poplar saddle-shaped seat above four splayed legs with baluster turnings braced by a bulbous turned "H" stretcher assembly.
Curatorial RemarksChairs bearing the "S.Jaques" brand vary widely in style. The earliest examples feature baluster-shaped leg and stretcher turnings, whereas later he followed changing styles in using those resembling bamboo. Many Jaques side and arm chairs are of the bowback type. At least one later squareback side chair demonstrates that Jaques' products continued to evolve stylistically. But his workmanship habits combined influences from both Philadelphia and New York, a common occurrence in Central New Jersey as New Brunswick was situated on the main travel route between those two cities. This particular chair represents the earliest Jaques style with its bulbous turnings and a flat-faced, backward canting bow imitating New York prototypes. Only the unusual character of the seat prevents the chair from passing for an urban area Windsor. New York shield-shaped plank seats of the 1790s turn down, or droop, at the front corners. The Jaques seat exhibits a cupped appearance.NotesSamuel Jaques was born in Perth Amboy in 1764, a son of Dr. Richard Jaques and Ruth Lott. Three of their sons apprenticed to skilled trades: Richard and Samuel became Windsor chairmakers in New Brunswick, and Peter Lott Jaques served as a clockmaker in Allentown, Monmouth County, and Groveville, Mercer County. Richard took out an advertisement in the Brunswick Gazette in 1792 announcing that he had moved his spinning wheel and Windsor chair shop to Peace Street in New Brunswick. The two brothers may have been partners in that enterprise. But there has been a long-held belief that Samuel also worked in Middletown, Monmouth County, which is not unreasonable. Dr. Jaques and his family had lived in Middletown between 1766 and 1771, and possibly later, where they were active members in Christ Episcopal Church. Samuel is also mentioned in the 1811 estate records of Stephen Van Brackle of Freehold, who owned eleven Windsor chairs at the time of his death. Admittedly, though, many residents of Monmouth County conducted business regularly with the various trades people and shop keepers of New Brunswick. The newspaper Fredonian of that city carried the following death notice on 9 April 1828: "In this city, on the 30th ult. Mr. Samuel Jaques, aged 64."
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