An Important Chippendale Carved Mahogany Side Chair, carving probably by the 'Garvan carver', Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1755

Chair marked IIII and original seat frame to set marked VI; retains a very dark craquelured probably original surface

Secondary wood poplar; proper right and left front glue blocks replaced with triangular blocks, proper right front leg loose and a crack is present in the leg square, a screw has been added through both rear legs into side seat rails to strenghthen chair (both heads are pulged with compound), proper right side stretcher with added screws at location of front leg, crack in proper left rear stile/leg at junction with side seat rail. Muslin applied curling to front rail; lower tips of left and right ears missing.
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.

Retaining a dark craquelure surface and having exceptional bold and high relief carving, this side chair is amongst the finest to survive from Colonial Philadelphia.  Dating to the mid-1750s, it is most likely the early work of the Garvan Carver, one of Philadelphia's most prolific and talented eighteenth century carvers.  Here he expertly overlaid a Georgian seating furniture form with a full vocabulary of Rococo motifs, including shells, C-scrolls, tassels, ruffles, gadrooning, flowerheads, and acanthus leaves.  He meticulously conceptualized the carving design for this chair and repeated certain motifs to unify it, while at the same time lightening the form and providing transitions.  His finishing of each motif is superb, from the veining of the flowerheads with a row of punches to the extension of knee carving to the underside of the knee with intaglio carving.¹

Four other sets of closely related chairs are known.  A side chair in the collection of Winterthur Museum is from a nearly identical set that differs slightly in the crest rail carving and the treatment of its applied seat rail carving (fig. 1).  William M. Hornor appears to have illustrated this chair with missing knee returns as the "rather conspicuous Maris-Gregg Family side chair in the possession of the Great-Granddaughter of the original owner."²

A side chair formerly in the collection of Dr. William Crim of Baltimore and currently at the Chipstone Foundation represents another set that, while closely related, can be differentiated from the others by the treatment of its applied seat rail carving, which has been articulated as a large single flowerhead flanked on each side by an asymmetrical acanthus frond (fig 2).³  A chair from the same set as the Chipstone chair is owned by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maryland.⁴  Remarkably similar flowerheads are displayed on the tripod of the Acme of Perfection tea table also offered in this sale.

Another related set is represented by a side chair once in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Luke Vincent Lockwood (fig. 4).  This example has crest terminals carved as shells rather than volutes and the front seat rail is intaglio carved rather than having applied decoration.⁵

A pair of side chairs at Winterthur Museum stem from the last related set.⁶ Although the chairs follow the same design, they are less elaborately ornamented than their counterparts as their splat and knees lack carving. One of the aforementioned chairs may be the chair illustrated by William M. Hornor as the property of Miss Mary DeHaven.⁷ One of these or a third possible chair from the set was included in exhibition, The Philadelphia Chair, 1685-1785, held at the Historical Society of York County in 1978.⁸ 

¹ A side chair from the same set was sold at Sotheby's New York, Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Folk Paintings, and Chinese Export Porcelain, October 24-5, 1986, sale no. 5500, lot 187B. Another chair from this set was sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, The Americana Collection of the Late Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, Part One, New York, April 26-9, 1944, lot 722 (fig. 3). This chair was purchased from L. Richmond in Freehold, New Jersey, and sold at auction in 1944 for $550.
² William M. Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, (Washington, D.C.: Highland House, 1977), pl. 330.
³ Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone, (Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin Press, 1984), no. 61, p. 140.
⁴ Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland Heritage, (Baltimore, MD: Maryland Historical Society, 1976), no. 91.
⁵ Loan exhibition of eighteenth and early nineteenth century furniture & glass; examples of lustre ware, Lowestoft and toile de Jouy used in America during these periods; portraits by Stuart, Peale and others. For the benefit of the National Council of Girl Scouts, inc. At the American Galleries ... New York City, September 25th to Ocotber 9th, 1929. (New York: Printed by Lent and Graff Company, 1929), no. 647 and Sotheby's New York, October 9, 1997, Important Americana, sale no. 7025, lot 472. Catalog entry states one seat rail replaced and formerly over-upholstered.
⁶ Charles Hummel, A Winterthur Guide to American Chippendale Furniture, (New York: Crown, 1976), p. 71, fig. 64. One chair is no. I in the set and stamped PARRISH on the inside of the back seat rail. acc. no. 68.88.1.
⁷ See Hornor, pl. 329.
⁸ See Joseph K. Kindig, III, The Philadelphia Chair, 1685-1785, (York, PA: Historical Society of York County, 1978), no. 45.