Slat Back Arm Chair
Maker
Michael Maps
Period1750 - 1800
MediumMaple, ash
Dimensions48 × 28.25 × 21.75 in. (121.9 × 71.8 × 55.2 cm)
ClassificationsSeating Furniture
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1936
Object number1992.520
DescriptionThis very large arm chair includes five unevenly spaced graduated slats set between a pair of turned stiles with flattened balls between each slat. The large ball finials, surmounting a ring, have double incised lines at their widest point, and a nipple on the top. The turned front posts, also incorporating flattened balls like the rear posts, end in small original ball feet. The baluster turned arm supports, part of the front posts, end in conical shaped terminals. The arms, which are set unusually high, are undercut on the front only. The lower frame includes a pair of sausage turned front stretchers, and pairs of simple turned side and rear stretchers. An old layer of greenish-black paint has been applied over an earlier bright red pigment layer. The woven rush seat is early if not original to the chair.Curatorial RemarksThis oversized slat back arm chair came from the Van Mater family of Monmouth County, and was obviously made for a very large customer. It and accession number 2017.2.1 are virtually identical in their details. They vary in the material from which the seats are made, and the fact that the arms on this example are set very high. That suggests that the chair had a fat cushion on top of the rush, otherwise the arm height would have been exceedingly uncomfortable. The presence of a thick cushion may also explain why the bottom slats on this group of chairs is positioned unusually high above the seat.NotesA native of Germany born in Gutersloh, Westphalia, Michael Maps (1728 - 1802) sailed for America from Rotterdam in 1754. Initially indentured to George Smith for seven years in payment for his passage, he subsequently married Smith's daughter Barbara and settled on Smith land in the present borough of West Long Branch, Monmouth County. Maps, who was a chairmaker and wheelwright, died in 1802. He was also an ardent early member of the Independent Methodist Church, and is buried in that denomination's cemetery in West Long Branch. His estate inventory, taken on September 5 1802, lists "three Cheer racks," and "One Grindstone, one set of Carpenter Tools, one lot of Cheer and Wheel Stuff." A son and grandson followed Maps in the chairmaking trade. They were Frederick Maps (1756 - 1818) and Zenas Maps (1786 - 1862), both of whom occupied the homestead in West Long Branch. For other examples of chairs attributed to Michael Maps, see accession numbers 1990.611, 1990.624, 1992.520, and 2017.2.1. An extended discussion of Maps can be found in the Curatorial Remarks of 2017.2.1.
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