The precise history of this French chair has proved elusive. When Thomas Jefferson returned from Paris, where he served as Minister Plenipotentiary to the French Court, he shipped home 86 crates of personal effects, including 48 French chairs. Unfortunately, they were not precisely described in his 1790 inventory, and the trail became even murkier as Jefferson gradually sold pieces to satisfy his debts. The former president’s remaining collection was almost entirely dispersed after his death. It is unlikely that this unsigned chair belonged to French royalty, and we don’t yet know whether it ever graced Jefferson’s Monticello. However, it is certainly of the quality of Parisian chairs admired and collected by Americans in the late 18th century. A French chair presented to Dolley Madison by the Marquis de Lafayette and now in the White House is remarkably similar to the BMA example. A close comparison of the two may eventually cast further light on the mystery. Apparently, President Monroe gave a similar chair (location unknown) to Jefferson himself. Perhaps it was the piece now in the BMA.