Side Chair

Unknown

1700–1720 · Red maple, oak · The American Wing

Tall, stately, and covered in its original "Russia" leather, this high-back chair is a fine example of the fully developed William and Mary style. It is crowned with a characteristic Boston-school crest rail featuring C-scrolls and foliage. The calfskin leather is of the type made near Saint Petersburg in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Usually dyed red and embossed with a tiny lattice pattern, it was tanned and dressed with bark extracts and oils to make it supple and less subject to decay and insect infestation.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1700–1720

Medium

Red maple, oak

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Bequest of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, 1951