Images(8)

Side Chair

Period1790 - 1805

MediumMahogany, ash, and apparently tulip poplar

Dimensions38 × 21 × 20.5 in. (96.5 × 53.3 × 52.1 cm)

InscribedTwo of the chairs have brass plaques on the underside of the back seat rail, "Property of Mrs. J. A. Haskell 1st owner / Mary Lloyd Hendrickson / married Nov. 27, 1793 / 2nd owner - Charles I. [should read J] Hendrickson / 3rd owner - Ella Hendrickson / 4th owner - Susanna P. Bennett."

ClassificationsSeating Furniture

Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Andrew Varick Stout, 1965

Object number1995.530

DescriptionAn assembled set of two pairs of identical side chairs. They all feature open shield backs with a looped triple splat hung with drapery festoons and carved with a leaf spray, upholstery over the seat rails, and square reeded and tapered legs that end in spade feet.
Curatorial RemarksTwo chairs of the set have blue striped upholstered seats with new foundation webbing, stuffing, and covers. The remaining two from the Hendrickson family retain their original upholstery under gray-green covers. The original cover fabric, a linen/cotton blend, is copperplate printed in red on a white ground. The scene depicts George Washington in a chariot with the figure of Liberty seated behind. The design is positioned on the chair seat in such a way that the Washington figure is centered. The fabric pattern is entitled "Apotheosis of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington," printed probably in England after 1781. Examples of it exist in blue, purple and red printed on linen/cotton blend and all cotton. Washington's pose is taken from a portrait by John Trumbull that was engraved by Valentine Green in 1781.NotesAccording to family tradition, a pair from this set of chairs was part of the wedding furniture of John Hendrickson (1773 - 1807) and Mary Lloyd (1772 - 1865) of Middletown, Monmouth County. They were married in 1793. John Hendrickson died in 1807 at the young age of thirty-four. A very successful farmer, his estate inventory taken on 20 April 1807 came to a total value of $7,558.35. Among the household furniture listed were "3 Mahogany Tables & Stand" appraised at $34.00, and "8 Do Cushioned Chair[s]" assessed at $60.00. The set of mahogany chairs, believed to include these two, was by far the most valuable furniture entry in the inventory. For much of the rest of her long life, Mary Lloyd Hendrickson resided with her son, Charles J. Hendrickson (1805 - 1889), who built a large restrained Greek Revival residence called Locustwood in Middletown village in 1831. The chairs became part of the furnishings in that grand residence for almost a century. When Charles Hendrickson's last single daughter Ella passed away in 1929, Locustwood was broken up and its contents dispersed. Two of the chairs were inherited by her niece Susannah Hartshorne Bennett (1870 - 1952), who had grown up at Locustwood. She sold them to Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, who had brass plaques affixed to them outlining their provenance. The two bearing the plaques were sold on 29 April 1944 as part of the Haskell Collection, Part I, lot 733. They brought $1,250.00. The other pair sold on 19 May 1944 in the Haskell Collection, Part II, lot 561. They realized $750.00. It was noted in the catalog that they were identical to the Hendrickson chairs. All four had been exhibited together at the Association. Given her local buying habits, Mrs. Haskell may well have been able to acquire two additional chairs of the original set of eight from other Hendrickson descendants. For another high styled piece of Hendrickson furniture from Locustwood, see accession number 1984.2.1. A photograph taken at Locustwood on 14 April 1886 shows two chairs from this set in the archway between the double parlors to the right of the center hallway of the house. The chair facing the camera holds a cake decorated with sixty candles in celebration of the sixtieth wedding anniversary of Charles J. Hendrickson and his wife Julia Anne Schureman (1804 - 1889).

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