Side Chair Decorated with a Portrait of Lafayette

c. 1824

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John King, Joseph Weisman, and others

Side Chair Decorated with a Portrait of Lafayette

Maker: John King
Ornamentor: Joseph Weisman
Subject: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

Side Chair Decorated with a Portrait of Lafayette

c. 1824

Physical Qualities Painted wood with gilt and polychrome decoration, 30 1/2 x 17 3/4 x 15 3/8 in. (77.5 x 45.1 x 39.1 cm.)

Credit Line Gift of Randolph Mordecai

Object Number 1925.11.1

The Marquis de Lafayette, one of the most popular heroes of the American Revolution, paid a return visit to the fledgling United States in 1824 – 1825 at the invitation of President James Monroe. The former general’s extensive itinerary included a stop in Baltimore, where this chair was made and embellished with Lafayette’s portrait. The elbow-shaped element above the rear legs is a form that Baltimore chair makers often used.

The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1925; Randolph Mordecai, Paris, France

Elder, William Voss. Baltimore Painted Furniture, 1800-1840. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1972, cat. no. 43, page 69.

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. 7.

Lance Humphries, "Provenance, Patronage, and Perception: The Morris Suite of Baltimore Painted Furniture," "American Furniture," 2003, p. 167-168, figures 38-39.