A Very Rare Queen Anne Carved Birchwood and Maple Armchair, possibly Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Reputedly once belonged Benedict Arnold
Descended through the Ames family to the estate of Mary Farley Ames Lee, Hull Springs Farm, Farmville, Virginia
Private Collection

slipseat frame replaced, old refinish
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 armchair's scrolled arms and conical tipped arm supports are holdovers of the early Baroque design found on late seventeenth and early eighteenth century banister-back and leather back armchairs.  However this chair has the late Baroque design of boldly curved cabriole legs and a delicate vasiform splat that associates it with chairs being produced by Boston chair makers of the second quarter of the eighteenth century.  Two early Boston-made chairs in the collections of Winterthur Museum (see Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur, (Winterthur, DE: Winterthur Book, 1997), p.12-14, nos. 5 and 6) share several of these characteristics. The atypical construction of the inset arm supports that extend to the side stretch square, tripartite turned medial stretcher, disproportionate scale of the splat and the chairs construction of birchwood, maple and possibly oak all suggest a provincial coastal Northeast New England Queen Anne craftsman constructed this chair.