VERY FINE AND RARE CHIPPENDALE CARVED AND FIGURED MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIR, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, CIRCA 1770

Slipseat and chair marked IIII and V, respectively. 

Splat cracked and reglued, rear glue blocks replaced;
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 elaborate splat design, inspired from Plate IX in William Ince and John Mayhew 1762 publication The Universal System of Household Furniture, and carving sets them apart from other Philadelphia Chippendale seating furniture.  A chair from the same set is in the Mabel Brady Garvan Collection at the Yale University Art Museum (see Patricia E. Kane, 300 Years of American Seating Furniture: Chairs and Beds from the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University, (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1976), pp. 118-9, no. 99). At least five other variants of the same general design survive. Albert Sack declared the example in the Julian Wood Glass Jr. Collection as an American Masterpiece (see Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture: Early American, (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 42-3).

For related examples see William Keyse Rudolph and Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, Treasures of American and English Painting and Decorative Arts: from the Julian Wood Glass Jr. Collection, (Winchester, VA: Museum of the Shenandoah Valley and distributed by Skira Rizzoli, 2010), William Macpherson Hornor, Jr., Blue book, Philadelphia Furniture: William Penn to George Washington, (Washington, DC: Highland House, 1977), pls. 337 and 339, Luke Vincent Lockwood, A Collection of English furniture of the XVII & XVIII Centuries, (New York: Tiffany Studios, 1907), pl. XCIV, Joseph K. Kindig III, The Philadelphia Chair: 1685-1785, York, PA: The Historical Society of York County, 1978), no. 49.