1985.B.14, Armchair (Philadelphia), 1740-1760


GENERAL DESCRIPTION  
Like the Newport side chair [1985.B.15], also in the The Bybee Collection Collection of American Furniture at the Dallas Museum of Art, the undulating lines of this chair mark a change from earlier, more linear forms of furniture made of turned elements and flat panels, to a far more complex assembly of sawn and richly carved elements. This armchair, with its scrolled arms, multiple shell carvings, and vividly grained walnut, would have been a terrifically expensive luxury item when it was new, affordable only to prosperous merchants and landowners. One of the wealthiest cities in colonial America and, correspondingly, a leading center of fashionable cabinetwork, Philadelphia provided talented cabinetmakers the opportunity to produce exceptionally fine examples of furniture.

Adapted from
Kevin W. Tucker, DMA unpublished material, Label text (1985.B.14), 2006.

NOTES
  • provenance form in TMS changed to comply with Guidelines and Procedures for Provenance Display
  • Venable catalogue essay added to TMS as a text entry

As part of our effort to remove old department tags and distinguish between two types of TeachingIdeas tags, I am pulling the text from the teaching ideas section and placing it in a note for Jennie. I am also removing the .newTI tag since this is the only note with the tag and the process of notifying Jennie when new materials arise should likely be revised. (EAS, Jan 6, 2017)

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Cultures

Geography 

Process/materials

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS 

PROVENANCE 
Before 1950: Joe Kindig, Jr., and Son, York, Pennslyvania

1950-1985: The Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection, Houston, Texas

From 1985: Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee

Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Charles L. Venable, American Furniture in the Bybee Collection, (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, published in association with the Dallas Museum of Art, 1989), 44.

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

WEB RESOURCES 

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS
This chair exemplifies the most refined and expensive cabinetwork of Philadelphia.  Its high cost was due to the use of expensive material like walnut and imported fabric. It was also very labor intensive since the chairmaker had to saw out and smooth by hand approximately twenty parts before assembly could begin.

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1985.B.14

Category
rules_operator
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General Description
 
Like the Newport side chair [1985.B.15], also in the The Bybee Collection Collection of American Furniture at the Dallas Museum of Art, the undulating lines of this chair mark a change from earlier, more linear forms of furniture made of turned elements and flat panels, to a far more complex assembly of sawn and richly carved elements. This armchair, with its scrolled arms, multiple shell carvings, and vividly grained walnut, would have been a terrifically expensive luxury item when it was new, affordable only to prosperous merchants and landowners. One of the wealthiest cities in colonial America and, correspondingly, a leading center of fashionable cabinetwork, Philadelphia provided talented cabinetmakers the opportunity to produce exceptionally fine examples of furniture.

Adapted from
Kevin W. Tucker, DMA unpublished material, Label text (1985.B.14), 2006.

Fun Facts
This chair exemplifies the most refined and expensive cabinetwork of Philadelphia.  Its high cost was due to the use of expensive material like walnut and imported fabric. It was also very labor intensive since the chairmaker had to saw out and smooth by hand approximately twenty parts before assembly could begin.

Archival Resources

Web Resources
 

Notes
  • provenance form in TMS changed to comply with Guidelines and Procedures for Provenance Display
  • Venable catalogue essay added to TMS as a text entry

As part of our effort to remove old department tags and distinguish between two types of TeachingIdeas tags, I am pulling the text from the teaching ideas section and placing it in a note for Jennie. I am also removing the .newTI tag since this is the only note with the tag and the process of notifying Jennie when new materials arise should likely be revised. (EAS, Jan 6, 2017)

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Cultures

Geography 

Process/materials

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS 

PROVENANCE 
Before 1950: Joe Kindig, Jr., and Son, York, Pennslyvania

1950-1985: The Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection, Houston, Texas

From 1985: Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee

Notes:
The main source for this provenance is Charles L. Venable, American Furniture in the Bybee Collection, (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, published in association with the Dallas Museum of Art, 1989), 44.

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS

rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1985.B.14
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
@Bowling
%Archived
scrolls (spirals/motifs): AAT: 300010094
*Decorative Arts and Design
yellow (color): AAT: 300127794
chairs (furniture): AAT: 300037772
Colonial American (pan-American style): AAT: 300018032
splat: AAT: 300040404
Queen Anne: AAT: 300021047
walnut (wood): AAT: 300012476
seashell (shell): AAT: 300310135
cabriole legs: AAT: 300040831
shell carvings: DMA
source file
object_notes_2_d-0109.xml.nores