A VERY FINE AND VERY RARE WILLIAM AND MARY CARVED MAPLE 'LEATHER-BACK' SIDE CHAIR, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1710 |

crest slotted to receive leather; upholstered with reindeer hides from the 1786 shipwreck of the Die Frau Metta Catherina, St. Petersburg, Russia, circa 1786; feet restored.

Roger Gonzales, Kent, Connecticut, March 1998;
Vogel Collection no. 636.

Roger Gonzales and Daniel Putnam Brown, Jr., "Boston and New York Leather Chairs: A Reappraisal," American Furniture 1996, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 1996), p. 182, fig. 10;
Erik K. Gronning, “Luxury of Choice: Boston’s Early Baroque Seating Furniture,” American Furniture 2018, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 2018), figs. 31, 132.

Overall fine condition. Wear, discoloration, and minor losses commensurate with age and use. The crest was previously cracked and re-glued just above the upholstery gap. Few age cracks throughout. Secondary wood: oak. Width: 18 in.; Depth: 15 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 is one of the earliest forms of carved crested leather upholstered Boston seating furniture.  While there is only one surviving earlier example, this chair represents the first fully developed foray by Boston chairmakers into adorning their chairs with carving.  Helpful in dating this and related chairs is the design of the carved crest rail and stretcher.  Both have a strictly horizontal layout as opposed to later chairs that have arched reserves in their carving.  This chair’s carving relates directly to the Chester armchair now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. 1980.379). A side chair in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg (acc. no. 1976-430) lacks a carved crest or stretcher but its stile turnings are nearly identical.  This chair, with its exceptionally well-executed carving and optimal proportions, is a zenith of Boston chairmaking design in the first decade of eighteenth century. For additional information on related chairs see Erik K. Gronning, “Luxury of Choice: Boston’s Early Baroque Seating Furniture,” American Furniture 2018, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 2018). For additional information on this chair's upholstery see R. W. Stevenson, “A 200-Year-Old Gift From Under the Sea,” The New York Times, April 28, 2002.