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An Important Rare Set of Six Neoclassical Side Chairs, Boston, c.1815
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This set of chairs is the only one known with the bulbous reeded front leg and commodious original box seats, which make for a most comfortable and sturdy dining room chair.
The main stylistic theme is the stylized drapery type backsplat which is seen both with a carved or plain crest rail. Our chairs have a carved crest rail centered by onlaid figured mahogany. The medial rail is classic and suggestive of both elegance and luxury in its overall flowing drapery motif, all of which is then joined together in the center by a reeded connective element. This reeded embellishment in the medial stretcher is then repeated stylistically in the shaped bulbous front legs (see detail), certainly a neoclassical design not often explored by many craftsmen, as this leg was no doubt a more demanding and costly embellishment than a simple saber leg with or without a paw foot. The seats are commodious and over-upholstered, indicating the importance these chairs were to have had. The seat is further embellished with an exposed paneled seat frame.
Of interest is that these chairs, typical of Boston work, share a very dense and substantial aspect which is successfully juxtaposed upon a light, delicate drapery motif, the combination of which creates a successful interpretation of the Neoclassical ideal. See related scanned sources below from Classical Taste in America and The Magazine Antiques.
Height: 33 in. Seat Height: 18 1/2 Width: 17 in. Depth: 20 1/4 in.
The main stylistic theme is the stylized drapery type backsplat which is seen both with a carved or plain crest rail. Our chairs have a carved crest rail centered by onlaid figured mahogany. The medial rail is classic and suggestive of both elegance and luxury in its overall flowing drapery motif, all of which is then joined together in the center by a reeded connective element. This reeded embellishment in the medial stretcher is then repeated stylistically in the shaped bulbous front legs (see detail), certainly a neoclassical design not often explored by many craftsmen, as this leg was no doubt a more demanding and costly embellishment than a simple saber leg with or without a paw foot. The seats are commodious and over-upholstered, indicating the importance these chairs were to have had. The seat is further embellished with an exposed paneled seat frame.
Of interest is that these chairs, typical of Boston work, share a very dense and substantial aspect which is successfully juxtaposed upon a light, delicate drapery motif, the combination of which creates a successful interpretation of the Neoclassical ideal. See related scanned sources below from Classical Taste in America and The Magazine Antiques.
Height: 33 in. Seat Height: 18 1/2 Width: 17 in. Depth: 20 1/4 in.
