Images(2)

Side Chair

Period1740 - 1760

MediumProbably walnut, and oak

Dimensions38.75 × 22.25 × 20 in. (98.4 × 56.5 × 50.8 cm)

ClassificationsSeating Furniture

Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1938

Object number1144

DescriptionOne of two. The chairs incorporate a rounded, yoke-shaped crest rail and a vase-shaped splat between stiles that are flat on their front surface and rounded on the back. The seat rails lack a molding on their upper edge. The simple front cabriole legs end in pad feet which have an extra smaller pad underneath them. The rear legs are rectangular in shape, and end with a slight undercut. One original knee bracket remains on the chair that was photographed. Both also retain an early if not original finish.
Curatorial RemarksNew York chairmakers responded to competition from the furniture trade in Boston, Massachusetts, which shipped large quantities of ready made chairs up and down the east coast in the mid-eighteenth century. This pair of chairs imitates the style of the Boston products in such features as the overall shape of the back, yoke-shaped crest rail, vase shaped splat, and front cabriole legs that end in pad feet. However, the shape of the rear legs and use of oak as a secondary wood indicate a New York area origin. The voids on either side of the splat resemble birds in profile facing each other. For an example of the Boston made prototype, see accession number 2039.NotesAssociation accession records provide a provenance for this pair of side chairs. "Formerly owned by Hannah Baldwin Ford, wife of Jacob Ford, Sr., of Morristown, N. J. Jacob Ford owned Washington's Headquarters at Morristown when Washington was there." Hannah Baldwin (1701 - 1777) was born in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, a daughter of Jonathan Baldwin and Susanne Kitchell. In 1724 she married Jacob Ford, Sr. (1704 - 1777), a son of John Ford and Elizabeth Freeman. They later moved to Morristown, Morris County, where both died a few months apart in 1777. The Ford Mansion in Morristown, a great Georgian home built in the early 1770s for Jacob Ford, Jr. (1738 - 1777), and his family, was used as his headquarters by George Washington during the winter of 1779 / 1780. The Ford family continued to occupy the house until the 1870s, when it was acquired by the Washington Association of New Jersey in order to preserve the grand landmark and open it to the public. The Association subsequently donated the house and its extensive collections to the National Park Service in 1933. They are now part of the Morristown National Historical Park.

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