Lets play Name That Period!!

[Jim Kountz]

Ok guys from what period would you call this chair? (the one on the far right of the picture) Anyone have any reading on this style?? Id like to give a go at some period chairs and the simple design of this one caught my eye as a possible starting point.

[Dewey Torres]

Ok guys from what period would you call this chair? (the one on the far right of the picture) Anyone have any reading on this style?? Id like to give a go at some period chairs and the simple design of this one caught my eye as a possible starting point.

Looks like a spin off from a green and green with a bit of shaker influence on the legs. The back and the square ebony plugs are almost certain G&G like copies or influenced by.

[Dewey Torres]

The other stuff in the pic looks QA period heavy British influence.

[Jim Kountz]

Actually Dewey I would say the influence was the other way around, G&G were probably somewhat influenced from these since these are 18th century. The pic was taken at the Governors Palace in Colonial Williamsburg so Im sure they are correct to the period. I just dont know exactly what class to put it in. Been researching it some today and havent found anything definite yet.

[Dewey Torres]

Oh well,
At least I gave it a shot!

[Jim Kountz]

Well my research has shown that its a simple Chippendale side chair. More representative of Chippendales later work which exhibited straighter lines and less carvings. With the exception of the back splat its close to the one Carlyle Lynch did a drawing of and that was from a Virginia original. Alot of folks associate Chippendale with ornate carvings and ball and claw feet but there was more to his designs than that alone. So thats my best guess, I may order the Lynch drawings and study them for a while.

[Joe Cunningham]

The Colonial Williamsburg website calls it 'plain and neat', but initially I thought Chippendale w/o the ornamentation. I just wasn't brave enough to guess.

http://www.history.org/Foundation/jo...03/cabinet.cfm

[Jim Kountz]

The Colonial Williamsburg website calls it 'plain and neat', but initially I thought Chippendale w/o the ornamentation. I just wasn't brave enough to guess.

http://www.history.org/Foundation/jo...03/cabinet.cfm

I think you may be right. After looking through some more pictures I took at Williamsburg I found this one and it closely resembles the chair in my original post. If you cant make out the text is says Fashionable between 1740-1790.
Common Characteristics:
Emphasis on excellent proportions and streamlined appearance.
Minimal carving or applied ornanent.

[Jim Kountz]

But now I found this, so its back to the Chippendale again!! This chair is described as "Virginia Chippendale Side Chair. Ca. 1750. This chair is almost identical with the exception of the splat. The simple curves of the top rail are extremely close in shape.

[Joe Cunningham]

It reminds me of the chair Adam Cherubini made in his "Arts & Mysteries" column of PW, before he carved the back. He sometimes pops into SMC.

Or you could ask George Wilson here on SMC who made tools at Williamsburg.

It's a nice chair, I like the lines without all the fancy Chippendale carvings.

[Tony Joyce]

My vote would be Chippendale also, but what do I know? Ben Hobbs, who occasionally post here, did an excellent demonstration on the construction of a chair very similar to this one at the MESDA furniture seminar last month. It made me want to go home and build chairs. Ben promised he would make it look easy and he did. His presentation time was limited by the time available, but along with his son Matt, He did a pretty good coverage of the harder parts of construction. I'm hoping I can take one of his classes in the not to distant future. Ben is an excellent teacher and has a vast knowledge of period furniture, plus he's just an all around nice guy.

Tony Joyce

MESDA 009a.jpgMESDA 011a.jpg

[Adam Cherubini]

I can't help. I've seen these chairs in Williamsburg and also wondered about them. I'd be hard pressed to call them "Chippendale" style as there is nothing comparable in the Director. Toward the end of his life, Chippendale made Adam style furniture or the like. We don't call that Chippendale merely because Chippendale built some of it. When I think of Chippendale I think of the rococo furniture in "The Director".

I think this would make an excellent introduction to formal chair making.

Adam

[Calvin Hobbs]

Well, this chair is definitely of the Chippendale period, and very typical of the simple neat and plain style of Virginia and Eastern North Carolina. My Dad owns a couple of these and has built many like them, in one variation or another. Certainly nothing in the director, but Chippendale didn't design all of the furniture of the period, of course.

And thanks Tony for mentioning my Dad, he does know his way around chairs. I would guess he has made over 300 since he became a cabinetmaker. I currently am finishing a side chair and an armchair in the identical pattern to what you posted, which was a design from Chowan county, NC in the 2nd half of the 18th century.

[Tony Joyce]

Calvin,
Your father brought the original chair with him for us to see and showed us its dual purpose. Ben kept grabbing it for illustration purposes, but Matt finally switched it with one of the ones Ben made. Something about it being to valuable to use. He told us about having to build several chairs for the restaurant.

Tony Joyce

[mike holden]

Jim,
for defining the period, your picture misses the primary element, the curve of the back legs. If the chair forms a simple curve, a "c", then it is likely to be Chippendale, if it forms and "s", then it is likely queen anne. This is a starting point only.

Then the splat, if solid then queen anne, if pierced then Chippendale.

These are very loose definitions and can only get you started on identification.

remember that most of this furniture was made to order, and people might want some of the lates type of decoration, but some of what they already had as well so it would all fit together.

Mike