Side Chair

Datecirca 1917

Mediumoak, upholstered in velvet

DimensionsOverall: 34 1/2 x 19 x 18 in. (87.6 x 48.3 x 45.7 cm)

Credit LineReynolda Estate

CopyrightPublic Domain

Object number1922.2.71

DescriptionThis oak side chair, or Farthingale chair, in the Jacobean-revival style with upholstered seat and back has shallow spiral-turned legs and styles with boxed stretchers showing a low-relief diamond-diaper pattern scored into the outside. The legs end in small half round feet, meant to look as though they were worn down bun feet. The back and seat are upholstered in red velvet (replaced) with red and yellow braid fringe.

A farthingale chair is armless with a wide seat covered usually in high-quality fabric and fitted with a cushion. The backrest is an upholstered panel. Generally, the chair has legs that are straight and rectangular. The type was introduced as a chair for ladies in the late 16th century and was named in England, probably in the 19th century, for its ability to accommodate the exceptionally wide-hooped skirts also called farthingales. An earlier English name was “imbrauderer’s chair,” or “upholsterer’s chair.” The farthingale chair was one of the earliest comfortable upholstered seats.
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