It is rare to find a set of six chairs and this set had a lot of things going for it on my checklist. It has a real provenance of a notable American that it was made for: Moses Parsons, father of Theophilus Parsons, Massachusetts.
Also, the shell knees, claw ball feet and horseshoe seat are features that put this set in a special category of the best of its type. Further, there were no cracks on alterations, which is very important as these chairs were used often daily. The Parsons family obviously treasured this set through the generations.
I acquired these chairs from the Levy‘s when I was starting out and wanted an early example for the collection. The fact that these are transitional, with a Chippendale style backsplat didn’t bother me because these chairs were real, of their time, and had an attributable maker as Levy points out in his description which can be seen below.
Also in our collection, we have and show two single chairs, sw01101 and sw01102. We also have an armchair of the same style (sw01116) coming out of Boston with square cuffed Marlborough legs.
Height: 37 in. Width: 21 ½ in. Depth: 18 ¼ in.
Text of an Identification Document provided by Bernard & S.Dean Levy follows:
I have examined this set of chairs and found it to be as described below:
Important Set of Six Transitional Queen Anne-Chippendale Side Chairs Attributed to Grindall Rawson (1719 – 1803), Rhode Island circa 1760 – 1770
Primary wood: Cherry
Secondary wood: Cherry
Seat frames: Pine blocksHeight: 37 in.
Width: 21 ½ in.
Depth: 18 ¼ in.Provenance: Moses Parsons, father of Theophilus Parsons, Massachusetts; The Parsons Family to Mary Parsons Long,
Princeton, New Jersey.Reference: Bernard & S. Dean Levy, Inc. Gallery Catalog I, page 16.
A set of six cherry side chairs with serpentine crest rails ending in moulded ears above a pierced and carved splat, above a horseshoe shaped seat. The cabriole shell and bellflower carved front legs are connected by block and turned stretchers, and end in ball and claw feet. The chairs are in excellent condition, and have their original seat frames, and have only the normal repairs expected from use and wear.
In determining the origin of the chairs to be Rhode Island, most probably Providence, we based our opinion in part by the process of elimination. The splat is similar to Massachusetts examples, but the carving of the shell and bellflower on the knee of cabriole legs, and the heavily webbed claw and ball foot, are Rhode Island characteristics. The use of cherry as the primary wood is also found on a highboy attributed to Providence, and the knee carving and claw and ball feet appear to be by the same hand as the highboy attributed to Grindall Rawson (1719 – 1803), illustrated and discussed in Antiques Magazine, July 1980, “The Rawson Family of Cabinetmakers in Providence, Rhode Island,” by
Eleanor Bl. Monahon, page 134, plate 1 and figure 1. Also, a related Rhode Island foot is illustrated in John Kirk, American Chairs – Queen Anne and Chippendale, page 53, figure 37.
Revised March 9, 2026 11:13pm