Fancy Side Chair1830–184535 3/8 × 17 1/4 × 19"Paint, bronze powder stenciling, and gold leaf on wood with painted rush seatGift of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration82.19.101551874637Artist unidentifiedFurniture/FurnishingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster19836United StatesUnited StatesNew YorkConnecticutThree Dimensional WorkseMuseum - Collection HighlightsThis fancy side chair features a roll top, which was popular in New York City, upstate New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from the mid-1820s through the 1840s. The ornamental scroll front and "turkey legs," with multiple ring turnings embellished with gold leaf, elevated both the challenges of construction and the resulting price to the customer. The seat on this type of chair was often woven rush, known as "flag," thus leading to the appellation "flag-bottomed" chair. Flag could be purchased in bundles and stored for future use, or it could be acquired green directly from sloops that brought it into New York's ports. Before it could be bundled and stored, however, the rush had to be properly dried to prevent rotting. After the rush was "matted" and "moulded" (woven and framed), it frequently received two coats of white paint for added protection and decorative effect. Ransom Cook, Saratoga Springs's best known nineteenth-century chairmaker, repaired, painted, and bottomed such chairs. In the 1830s his charge for matting and painting rush seats on four chairs was just $1.25.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Fancy Side Chair," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 328.http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster19836http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster19836http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster1983618301845 82 19 1 This fancy side chair features a roll top, which was popular in New York City, upstate New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from the mid-1820s through the 1840s. The ornamental scroll front and "turkey legs," with multiple ring turnings embellished with gold leaf, elevated both the challenges of construction and the resulting price to the customer. The seat on this type of chair was often woven rush, known as "flag," thus leading to the appellation "flag-bottomed" chair. Flag could be purchased in bundles and stored for future use, or it could be acquired green directly from sloops that brought it into New York's ports. Before it could be bundled and stored, however, the rush had to be properly dried to prevent rotting. After the rush was "matted" and "moulded" (woven and framed), it frequently received two coats of white paint for added protection and decorative effect. Ransom Cook, Saratoga Springs's best known nineteenth-century chairmaker, repaired, painted, and bottomed such chairs. In the 1830s his charge for matting and painting rush seats on four chairs was just $1.25.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Fancy Side Chair," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 328.