John and Hugh Finlay
Side Chair
1819
Physical Qualities
Maple, cherry; polychrome paint, gilt; replacement cane seat, 33 7/8 x 20 3/8 x 24 3/16 in. (86 x 51.8 x 61.4 cm.)
Credit Line
The George C. Jenkins and Decorative Arts Funds, by exchange with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Object Number
1972.46.2
This painted side chair was made in the classical archaeological style, and is one of eleven surviving chairs of an originally twelve-piece set. The raked seat back and rear legs depicts the Greek klismos form, while the turned front legs are of Roman origin. This chair features yellow polychrome paint and stenciled, and freehand, gilt decoration on the chair's back; it incorporates a unicorn notif. The eagle standard with a laurel wreath and torches at its center on the stay rail of the back, the bound fasces on the front seat rail, and the palmettes, anthemion, drapery, and winged thunderbolts all demonstrate the more purely classical design elements.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, by exchange, 1972; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1965; Norton Asner, Antiques, Baltimore, Maryland, by 1965; by descent to Margaret Abell Fenwick; Arunah S. Abell (1806-1888), Woodburne, Baltimore, Maryland, by 1888.
Arthur R. Blumenthal (editor), The Art Gallery and The Gallery of the School of Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, "350 Years of Art & Architecture in Maryland", October 26-December 1, 1984, no. 65, p. 82.
William Voss Elder III, Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Painted Furniture", April 18-June 4, 1972, no. 52, p. 61 & cover (detail).
Berry Tracy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, "19th Century American Furniture & Other Decorative Arts", April 16-September 17, 1970.
William Voss Elder III, Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Painted Furniture", April 18-June 4, 1972, no. 52, p. 61 & cover (detail).
Berry Tracy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, "19th Century American Furniture & Other Decorative Arts", April 16-September 17, 1970.
'Collecting American Art for the Metropolitan 1961- 1966,' Antiques Magazine, April 1967, p. 483, ill.
Morton, Robert. Southern Antiques and Folk Art. Birmingham, Alabama: Oxmoor House, 1976, p. 63.
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.50, ill. 32.