GENERAL DESCRIPTION
By attaching side panels to straight-back chairs, easy chairs were developed in Europe during the seventeenth century as a means to protect the sitter from cold drafts. In both Great Britain and Colonial America, such chairs were expensive pieces of furniture due to the high cost of upholstery fabric. For those few who could afford such luxuries, easy chairs were usually placed in a bedroom and were often fitted with chamber pots beneath their cushions.
This easy chair has traditionally been associated with Newport, Rhode Island. However, features such as the compressed balls and webbed talons of the feet and the triple-swelled, medial stretcher are known on chairs from eastern Massachusetts as well. Furthermore, all these details can be found on English pieces.
Regardless of its exact origin, this chair from the Bybee Collection of American Furniture at the Dallas Museum of Art is a particularly fine example. Its turned and carved elements are well-defined and the overall design is finely proportioned. The "compass" or arched front seat rail seen on this chair was most popular on English examples during the second quarter of the 18th century. Consequently, this easy chair may have been made soon after 1750, although it could have been produced as late as 1770. With its boldly carved feet, unusual scrolled knee brackets, darkly stained legs, and brightly colored upholstery, this chair must have spoken eloquently of the power and wealth of its original owner.
Adapted from
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), 32.
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
- fun facts Sources
- Unauthored, undated typed document from the Collections Records Object File (1985.B.25). Cover page of this document (that is found in so many of the other Bybee files, has a cover page that reads: Material from: Johnathan Fairbanks's files On two articles he wrote for Antiques in 1968/69
- Notecard with handwritten note and attached upholstery samples taken from the chair, Collections Records Object File (1985.B.25)
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1960: John Walton, Inc, Riverside, Connecticut
1960-1985: 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), 31-32.
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FUN FACTS
- It was intended that this easy chair be seen from the back and side as well as the front, and it was meant to be placed well out in a room as it was used in the Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee residence.
- An easy chair was an expensive item of furniture in the mid-18th century; with the added refinement of shaped rear legs, this must have been an extremely costly item.
- This particular chair has been reupholstered at least six to eight times.
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Apply to objects where number equals 1985.B.26
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General Description
By attaching side panels to straight-back chairs, easy chairs were developed in Europe during the seventeenth century as a means to protect the sitter from cold drafts. In both Great Britain and Colonial America, such chairs were expensive pieces of furniture due to the high cost of upholstery fabric. For those few who could afford such luxuries, easy chairs were usually placed in a bedroom and were often fitted with chamber pots beneath their cushions.
This easy chair has traditionally been associated with Newport, Rhode Island. However, features such as the compressed balls and webbed talons of the feet and the triple-swelled, medial stretcher are known on chairs from eastern Massachusetts as well. Furthermore, all these details can be found on English pieces.
Regardless of its exact origin, this chair from the Bybee Collection of American Furniture at the Dallas Museum of Art is a particularly fine example. Its turned and carved elements are well-defined and the overall design is finely proportioned. The "compass" or arched front seat rail seen on this chair was most popular on English examples during the second quarter of the 18th century. Consequently, this easy chair may have been made soon after 1750, although it could have been produced as late as 1770. With its boldly carved feet, unusual scrolled knee brackets, darkly stained legs, and brightly colored upholstery, this chair must have spoken eloquently of the power and wealth of its original owner.
Adapted from
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), 32.
Fun Facts
- It was intended that this easy chair be seen from the back and side as well as the front, and it was meant to be placed well out in a room as it was used in the Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee residence.
- An easy chair was an expensive item of furniture in the mid-18th century; with the added refinement of shaped rear legs, this must have been an extremely costly item.
- This particular chair has been reupholstered at least six to eight times.
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
- fun facts Sources
- Unauthored, undated typed document from the Collections Records Object File (1985.B.25). Cover page of this document (that is found in so many of the other Bybee files, has a cover page that reads: Material from: Johnathan Fairbanks's files On two articles he wrote for Antiques in 1968/69
- Notecard with handwritten note and attached upholstery samples taken from the chair, Collections Records Object File (1985.B.25)
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1960: John Walton, Inc, Riverside, Connecticut
1960-1985: 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), 31-32.
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