AN EXCEPTIONAL AND VERY RARE PILGRIM CENTURY TURNED BLACK-PAINTED CHERRYWOOD SPINDLE-BACK SIDE CHAIR, NEW YORK, CIRCA 1680 |

appears to retain its original surface and rush seat; together with a flame stitch cushion; (2 pieces.)

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, American, English and Continental Silver, American and English Country Furniture, Glass, Pottery and Chinese Export Porcelain, June 22, 1973, sale 3539, lot 479;
Alan Miller, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, March 1988;
Vogel Collection no. 497.

Erik Kyle Gronning, "Early New York Turned Chairs: A Stoelendraaier's Conceit," American Furniture 2001, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 2001), p. 115, fig. 44.

Overall very fine condition. Appears to retain its original surface and feet, as well as very old, perhaps original rush seat. Wear and rubbing to the surface commensurate with age and use. The front portion of the seat has an old leather patch, measuring 9 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches. Back surface to one leg the finish has been removed. Width: 17 7/8 in.; Depth: 14 1/2 in.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This chair stands as one of the best-preserved examples of a seventeenth century New Netherland / New York Stoelendraaier chair.  A stoelendraaier is the Dutch term for a chair (stoel) turner (drayer).  Few of these chairs survive today.  They are all identifiable by their prolific compressed ball turnings on their posts, four turned feet, and urn-and-ball finials.  The surviving chairs can be broken into two separate groups: ones with slightly domed caps on top of their front posts and those with a group of concentric turned rings at the top of the front posts.  This chair is part of a small group with concentric rings.  Others from this group include a pair of chairs, one in the collection of the Winterthur Museum and the other in the collection of the New York State Museum. Also extant are a chair in a private Vermont collection and an unpublished chair in a private New York collection.  All have nearly the identical style of turnings with their differences being in the number of turnings on the posts. These similarities strongly suggest that they were all the product of one turner.  Thirteen turners worked in New York during the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. David Wessels (1654-1678), however, is the only New York artisan identified as a stoelendraaier.  Frederick Arentszen Blom (1654-1686) and his children Arent Frederickszen Blom (1657-1709) and Jacob Blom (1676-1731) represent the only documented family of seventeenth-century New York turners. For additional information on this important group of early New York seating furniture see Erik Kyle Gronning, "Early New York Turned Chairs: A Stoelendraaier's Conceit," American Furniture 2001, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 2001), pp. 88-119.