Set of Four Walnut Cabriole Leg Side Chairs
Serpentine Crest Rails, Block & Turned Stretchers
Solid Baluster Shaped Splat
Eastern Massachusetts
Circa 1760
38 ” tall
Commentary: More than any others of the early period these [Queen Anne Style] chairs rely upon line, form, and the abstract play of solids and voids to create their visual effect. This set of four chairs echo this description. They date to the mid-eighteenth century when chairmakers were beginning to incorporate elements of the “modern” or rococo style. The most notable stylistic advancements is the gracefully shaped serpentine crest rail terminating in flaring carved ends or ears which replaces the older yoke form. As was standard practice in Massachusetts chairs from this period, the so called “club” foot is paired with unpierced splats which suggests the same mass as a ball and claw foot without the significant additional expense. They exhibit other standard features of eastern Massachusetts chairs of the period including, swelled front and rear stretchers, chamfered back legs, and a cavetto splat shoe capped by a quarter round. The returns are glued and nailed.
The chairs are numbered on the frames I, III, III & V suggesting that they were originally part of a set of eight or more.
Condition: Excellent overall condition with normal scattered repairs and wear commensurate with use and age. They retain old mellow surfaces. Chair IIII shows evidence of seat blocks or bracings, now removed, that probably were associated with an old repair to a split at the juncture of the seat rails and proper right stile. There is no evidence of seat blocking otherwise. The slip seats appear to be original though now reinforced with solid panels.
