Armchair

Datecirca 1917

Mediumwalnut, upholstery

DimensionsOverall: 37 3/4 x 26 x 25 in. (95.9 x 66 x 63.5 cm)

Credit LineReynolda Estate

CopyrightPublic Domain

Object number1922.2.79

DescriptionOne of a pair of Jacobean-style walnut open armchairs with barley-twist legs, stretchers and arm supports, the latter terminating in figures of crouched lions, and rectangular backs and seats upholstered in wool gros-point tapestry worked in polychrome threads on a gold ground and trimmed with polychrome wool-and-tassel fringe. The upholstery scenes on the backs of the two chairs are different. This example shows three men dressed as Roman soldiers standing in a landscape with trees. The soldier on the right holds an oval shield with large patera ornament and has raised one arm with a sword in his hand. The other two hold batons as though preparing for a race. When read in tandem with 1922.2.78, the soldiers may be interpreted as suitors of Atalanta, who were required to win a foot race against her in order to qualify for her hand in marriage (see 1922.2.78 for more information on this Greco-Roman myth).

The barley twist, so prominently displayed in these chairs, is thought to be Hispano-Moresque in origin. The design feature came to England with the marriage of Katherine of Braganza to Charles II in 1661. The name for this feature, which is sometimes called barley-sugar twist, derives from a brittle, amber-colored candy, usually twisted or molded into strips.
ProvenanceFrom 1964
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, acquired in 1964. [1]

Notes:
[1] In the early 1960s Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) gave the house and its contents to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection (Reynolda House, Inc.) on December 18, 1964 with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.

Status

On view