Side Chair

John Townsend

1760–70 · Mahogany, maple, chestnut, white pine · The American Wing

The subtle tilt of the chair back afforded minimal comfort while prompting the sitter to employ respectable posture. As mercantile wealth and social status increased in the colonial period, so did entertaining customs and the hierarchical distance between those perched in these chairs and those serving them. When entertaining subsided, chairs lined the edge of a room allowing the abstract wonderment of the skillfully sawn, puzzle-like back to enrich the interior design.

Artist

John Townsend

Date

1760–70

Medium

Mahogany, maple, chestnut, white pine

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Gift, 2004