Very Rare Chippendale Carved Mahogany Side Chair, Philadelphia, circa 1770

chair numbered V, slip seat numbered I, label on back seat rail inscribed This is the chair made about 1768 by James Gillingham to go to Caroline Limerich.

Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana, June 21, 1996, sale 6866, lot 415;
Alan Miller, Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

Glue blocks replaced; patches to stiles at junction of seat rails.
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.

Featuring a trefoil-pierced splat pattern, stiles with lozenge carving, C-scroll skirt, pendant and knee brackets taken from Chippendale’s Director¹, this side chair represents a richly embellished version of an extremely popular chair design in Colonial Philadelphia undoubtedly made by multiple cabinet shops.  With a seat rail numbered V and slip seat numbered I, it was made as part of a larger set of chairs. A closely related armchair with a nearly identical back, carved front seat rail, knee carving and feet also with lozenge-carved stiles is in the collection of Winterthur Museum and was formerly in the collection of Howard Reifsnyder.² A set of lozenge-carved chairs with similar treatment of the back but variations in the carving of the crest, seat rail, knees and feet is represented on side chairs numbered IV and V in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston Museum of Fine Arts.³ Chairs VI and IX from the set are at the White House.⁴ Another chair was included in an exhibition at the Historical Society of York County.⁵                    

Two chairs from a related set attributed to Thomas Tufft (died 1788) were sold in these rooms, Property from a Private Collection, January 18, 2003, sale 7866, lot 909. Two other chairs from that set descended in the Smith-Marsh family and were sold in these rooms, Important Americana, January 16-17, 1999, sale 7253, lot 843. An additional chair with a history in the Smith-Marsh family is pictured in American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Vol. VII, P5026, p. 1785. Two others are in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Three similar chairs bear the label of James Gillingham (1736-1781), a cabinetmaker working on Second Street in Philadelphia from 1768 to 1773.⁶  Other variations are in the collections of Yale University, Colonial Williamsburg, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Winterthur Museum. Several other examples are illustrated in William Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, 1977, pls. 342-346, 348-9.

¹ Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Director, London, 1754, pls. XIII, XIIII and XXIV.
² See Joseph Downs, American Furniture (New York, 1952, fig. 41).
³ See Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, no. 56, p. 102-3, and Edwin Hipkiss, no. 88.
⁴ Acc. 970.670.1, and .2.
⁵ See Joseph Kindig, The Philadelphia Chair: 1685-1785, Harrisburg, 1978, fig. 56,
⁶ Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, 1926, Volume II, p. 94.