A Very Fine and Rare Set of Six Federal Carved Mahogany Side Chairs, Attributed to John Carlisle, Providence, Rhode Island circa 1750

Appear to retain their original surfaces and are in extremely well-preserved condition.

Israel Sack, Inc., New York

American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection, Vol. II, (Washington, D.C.: Highland House Publishers Inc., 1969), p. 343, fig. 851

The Magazine Antiques, September 1965, in an advertisement for Israel Sack, Inc., illus. inside cover

secondary wood is birch; chair I: with four corner diagonal glue blocks added; original corner bracing removed chair III: with rear corner diagonal glue blocks added chair IV: with four corner diagonal glue blocks added; original corner bracing removed chair V: with later triangular glue blocks added; corner diagonal braces 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.

Derived from a shield-back chair pattern illustrated by George Hepplewhite in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, this set of side chairs follows a distinctive design associated with John Carlile and Sons of Providence, Rhode Island.¹  This family of cabinetmakers labeled very similar shield-back chairs, one at Chipstone and one illustrated in Joseph Ott, "Lesser Known Rhode Island cabinetmakers," The Magazine Antiques (May 1982): 1157.²  Another in a private collection is published in The Magazine Antiques (June 1980): 1146. Following the pattern of the labeled chairs, this set exhibits a splat with a kylix urn flanked by festoons of narrow leaves surmounting five pierced uprights above a carved lunette base, honeysuckle flowers carved on the top rail, a serpentine-fronted seat and square tapering molded legs. Multiple sets of similar chairs survive, including a set of eight with a history in the Herreshoff family that appeared in the catalogue, Important Americana, January 18, 1998, sale 7085, lot 1720 and other examples in the collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Winterthur Museum.

Although bearing the label of John Carlile and Sons, the documented chairs of this type are thought to be the work of John Carlile Jr. (1762-1832).³ He was born in 1762 in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of John Carlile Sr. (1727-1792), a cabinetmaker, and his wife Elizabeth Franklin Compton, daughter of the elder half-brother of Benjamin Franklin. In 1784, John Jr. leased a shop off Main Street in Providence with his father and elder brother Thomas (1754-1785), where they worked as "John Carlile and Sons."  Thomas died in 1785 and John Sr. died in 1796. In 1797, John Jr. moved to a shop on Benefit Street, where he worked with his brother Samuel (1770-circa 1838) until 1803 making more sophisticated furniture than previously. His obituary, published in Providence on July 19, 1832, described his as "an industrious and useful member of society."

¹ See George Hepplewhite, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, London, 1794, pl. 4.
² See Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone, (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin, 1984), no. 68, pp. 154-5.
³ Joseph Ott, "Lesser Known Rhode Island cabinetmakers," The Magazine Antiques (May 1982): 1157