The Thomas Wharton Jr. Very Fine Pair of Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Side Chairs, Carving attributed to John Pollard (1740-1787), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Circa 1765

Chairs marked III and VIII and their respective slip seats marked XI and VIII. Both retains a rich dark historic surface.

Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735-1778) and Susannah (Lloyd) (1737-1772) of Philadelphia;
Thence by descent to Richard Wistar Harvey (d. 1939), son of Alexander Elmslie Harvey and Rachel Lewis Wistar;
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1940-16-73, 74. Bequest of R. Wistar Harvey, 1940.

William MacPherson Hornor, Jr., Blue Book:  Philadelphia Furniture, William Penn to George Washington, (Highland House Publishers, Washington, D.C., 1977), pl. 362.

Secondary wood is Yellow Pine. Interior glue blocks reglued and some with later nails for additional strength.
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.

With a splat derived from chair patterns illustrated in plate XVI of The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Directorby Thomas Chippendale, these side chairs are among the finest interpretations of Philadelphia Rococo seating furniture in the Gothic taste.

Numbered III and VIII, they stem from the set of at twelve chairs commissioned by Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735-1778), a merchant and member of the prominent Quaker Wharton family of Philadelphia. He was a politician of the Revolutionary era and served and first President (governor) of Pennsylvania following the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. On November 4, 1762, he married Susannah Lloyd (1737-1772), daughter of Thomas and Susannah (Kearney) Lloyd. These chairs were likely acquired for their estate, “Twickenham,” located in Abington, Montgomery County. Two other chairs from the same set also originally owned by Thomas and Susannah Wharton remain in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (acc. No. 1947-58-1 and 1986-76-1).

The magnificent carving is attributed to the master London-trained carver, John Pollard (1740-1787), on the basis of shared attributes with his known work on the celebrated suites of furniture commissioned by the Philadelphia merchants, John Cadwalader (1742-1786) and David Deshler (d. 1792). A nearly identical crest rail and Gothic splat are found on a side chair at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2003-108-1) made as part of one Cadwalader set while similar crest rail carving is found on the famous Cadwalader commode-seat set. Both sets have been attributed to the shop of Benjamin Randolph (1737-1792) and, as Pollard was the principal carver in the shop during the late 1760s and early 1770s, at the time of the circa 1769 commission, he is assumed to be responsible for the exceptional carving for the group (see Leroy Graves and Luke Beckerdite, “New Insights on John Cadwalader’s Commode-Seat Side Chairs,” American Furniture 2000, Luke Beckerdite, ed., Milwaukee: The Chipstone Foundation, 2000, pp. 152-68).

In addition, this pair displays a similar Gothic splat pattern with carved borders, a closely related pendant motif and acanthus carving on the ears that follow those of the Deshler suite chairs (see Israel Sack Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Volume VI, P3920, p. 48).  This combination of the pendant motif and splat definition is also found on the Wistar family set of chairs with carving attributed to Pollard (see Christie’s, Property from the Collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, January 21, 2006, sale 1618, lot 535). A pair of side chairs sold at Sotheby’s, Important Americana from a Private Collection, sale 8776, lot 73 also exhibits similar carving attributed to Pollard.

Other nearly identical chairs with histories in the Wharton family of Philadelphia survive. Two in the collection of the State Department were originally owned by Charles Wharton (1743-1838), Thomas Wharton’s cousin and a wealthy Quaker merchant who lived in a townhouse on Second Street in Philadelphia (see Clement Conger and Alexandra Rollins, Treasures of State, New York, 1991, no. 43, pp. 122-3).  They descended in his family and were later purchased by his grandson, Rodman Wharton (1824-1854), from Wharton relatives on September 16, 1840 and were inherited by Esther Morton Smith. Two chairs in the Kaufman Collection with the same history from Rodman Wharton descended to his son William Rodman Wharton (b. 1854) (see J. Michael Flanigan, American Furniture from Kaufman Collection, Washington, 1986, no. 9, pp. 32-3). One is illustrated in William M. Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, 1935, plate 362 as the “Charles Wharton Chair” and the property of his descendants. Three were illustrated by Israel Sack, Inc. in The Magazine Antiques (February 1987) on the inside of the front cover.