Bow-back Windsor side chair (brace-back)
New York or Connecticut
1790-1810
Measurements
36-1/4 in x 20-1/2 in x 22 in
Materials
Tulip poplar* (seat), hickory* (bow and spindles), maple* (legs and stretchers)
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.551
Inscription
A large “I·I” is painted in black on a circular white background under the seat. The mark is probably that of an owner.
Condition Notes
The chair has been stripped of its paint and coated with a clear finish.
Provenance
Bequest of Dr. and Mrs. J. Newberry Reynolds to The David Wilson Mansion, Inc., in 1942.
Comments
The bow-back Windsor side chair has a hickory bow with a flat face and two score lines, enclosing nine spindles and supported from behind by two braces. The braces are socketed into a tab extension of the carved shield-shaped and contoured seat, which is deep in the plan. Four baluster-turned legs with tapered feet are round-tenoned through the seat and secured with wedges in the tops. Evidence of earlier paint remains on the outside bottom of the seat, preserved by the desire to protect the unusual monogram, likely the initials of the original owner.
