Corner chair

Joseph Armitt

ca. 1740 · Walnut · The American Wing

In the 1740s Philadelphia chair makers, desperate to compete with the low-cost "Boston chairs" being shipped from New England, introduced an elegant local interpretation of the fashionable Queen Anne style, wherein virtually all structural members—crest rails, arm supports, and front and side seat rails—were gracefully curved. This example, a roundabout or corner chair, is notable for its muscular stance and the wrought-iron-like twisting of the arm supports—features associated with the work of local cabinetmaker Joseph Armitt.

Artist

Joseph Armitt

Date

ca. 1740

Medium

Walnut

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1925