John and Hugh Finlay and Francis Guy
Armchair with a view of Grace Hill
1802-1804
Scroll
Physical Qualities
Maple and ash, painted black with gilt and polychrome decoration, replacement cane seats, 33 3/4 x 22 1/4 x 21 in. (85.7 x 56.5 x 53.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Lydia Howard de Roth and Nancy H. DeFord Venable, in Memory of their Mother, Lydia Howard DeFord; and Purchase Fund
Object Number
1966.26.3
This beautiful painted armchair is part of a furniture suite at the Museum attributed to Baltimore makers John and Hugh Finlay. It, like other objects in the set, features a painting of a Baltimore building by English-born landscape artist Francis Guy. The crest rail of this chair depicts Rose Hill. This chair also features a replacement cane seat, as well as a series of motifs including leafing and vines. The chair back consists of three thin splats all extending into the top to form an overall appearance of two cathedral arches; with the center splat interrupted by a painted motif of arrows and ribbon.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1966; Lydia Howard de Roth nee DeFord and Nancy H. DeFord Venable, by 1966; Lydia Howard DeFord, by descent, by 1966; John B. Morris (1784-1874), Clermont (or Claremont) estate, Gwynn's Run, Old Windsor Mill Road, near Walbrook, Maryland, ca. 1806-1874.
Scarborough, Katherine. Unique Record of Baltimore Mansions. 'The Baltimore Sun,' March 1, 1936, p. 11
BMA 'News,' June 1944, p. 4-5
'Antiques,' Vol XC, No. 3, Sept. 1966, p. 374, repro. 66.26.8
Elder, William Voss. Baltimore Painted Furniture, 1800-1840. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1972, cat no. 3, page 23.
Elder III, William Voss and Jayne E. Stokes. American Furniture 1680-1880: From the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Museum of Art, 1987, p. 45-47, ill. 29.
Beckerdite, Luke. American Furniture. London:Chipston Foundation, 2003, p.196, ill.
O'Malley, Therese. Keywords in American Landscape Design. New Haven: National Gallery of Art in Association with Yale University Press, 2010, p. 253, ill. 4.
