A Very Fine and Rare Chippendale Carved Mahogany Open Armchair, Goddard-Townsend School, Newport, Rhode Island circa 1765

The proper left arm repaired.

Dwight Blaney, Boston, Massachusetts

Mitchell Taradash, New York

Israel Sack, Inc., New York

Newport, R.I., Loan Exhibition held at the Nichols-Wanton Hunter House, 1953.

Luke V. Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, fig. 582, p. 109

Ralph Carpenter, Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island, pl. 25

American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection, Vol. IV, p. 1085, fig. 3966

Moses, Michael. Master Craftsmen of Newport. The Townsend and Goddards. Madison, 1984, fig. 1.52, p. 60

secondary wood is maple and birch; rear legs have lost 1 1/2 inch in height; later casters added; glue blocks replaced; putty compound added to proper left front side seat rail; front feet hollowed out for casters.
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.

Representing an American seating furniture form that was popular in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the present open armchair stems from a small group of like chairs made in Newport by the Goddard-Townsend school of craftsmen. It has been recognized as an important example of Newport craftsmanship in the pioneer American furniture collections of Dwight Blaney and Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell Taradash and included in the seminal publications on Newport furniture written by Ralph Carpenter and Michael Moses.

Exceptionally fashioned of finely grained mahogany, this chair is characterized by a crest rail with a cupid's bow center, a high upholstered back, serpentine-shaped arms with flaring knuckle-scrolled terminals, distinctive shell-carved knees and claw feet, the latter a rare detail as most chairs of this type were made with pad feet. In the manner associated with the Goddards and Townsends, particularly the work of John Goddard, the feet of this chair display balls proportionally wider than they are tall, slender and elongated talons, delineated knuckles with the rear talon meeting the ankle in a rounded joint, and a flattened area between the tendons of the ankle.¹

Among the other chairs in this group, the most closely related is a Newport slipper armchair included in the John Brown House Loan exhibition of 1965 and illustrated in the accompanying exhibition catalogue.² It is also offered in this sale as lot 100. Three additional chairs from the group with serpentine crest rails and molded arms with volute-carved terminals survive. One originally owned by John Brown of Providence, now at Winterthur Museum, was offered in these rooms, Important Americana, January 21-2, 2000, sale 7420, lot 709. Another owned by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ott was included in the John Brown House Loan exhibition.³ A third example is in a New York private collection. Another chair of this type ascribed to Providence sold in these rooms, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lammot Du Pont Copeland, January 19, 2002, sale 7757, lot 351. That chair displays stylized triangular-shaped shells with narrow convex lobes similar to those found on furniture made in Providence.⁴

¹ For related claw feet, see those on the John Brown corner chair made by Goddard illustrated in Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport, 1984, fig. 5.25, p. 237.
² See Joseph K. Ott, The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture, Providence, 1965, no. 25, p.
³ See ibid, no. 22, p. 25.
⁴ See Wendy A. Cooper and Tara L. Gleason, "A Different Rhode Island Block-and-Shell: Providence Provenances and Pitch Pediments," American Furniture 1999, figs. 30-3.