Lot 2152
  • 2152

Very Fine and Rare Chippendale Carved Mahogany Side Chair, carving probably by John Pollard or Richard Butts, Philadelphia, circa 1770

Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 USD
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Description

  • mahogany
  • Height 38 1/2 in.
chair marked V.

Provenance

Joseph Kindig, Jr., York, Pennsylvania;
Private Collection;
Sotheby's, New York, Fine American Furniture, Folk Art, Folk Paintings and Silver, New York, June 28, 1990, sale 6051, lot 443.

Condition

Slip seat replaced. Old repairs to backs of both stiles just below crest rail. Old break to proper right stile at joint with rear seat rail.
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.

Catalogue Note

Displaying the number V on the seat frame, this side chair is among the finest Philadelphia interpretations of Gothic chair designs published in The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Director by Thomas Chippendale.1 The exceptional carving found on the chair is attributed to John Pollard (1740-1787) or Richard Butts, two highly skilled Philadelphia carvers who worked in partnership together by 1773 on Chestnut Street, between Third and Fourth Streets, opposite Carpenter’s Hall. On February 22nd of that year, the Pennsylvania Gazette reported that Pollard and Butts could provide “all manner of carving” at the Sign of the Chinese Shield.” This side chair incorporates carving motifs – pendant bellflowers, beading, and acanthus flourishes -- that are characteristic of the Pollard/Butt shop oeuvre and incorporated into Pollard’s surviving work, including on a set of chairs made for David Deshler (d. 1792). 2

A similar set of Gothic side chairs with carving attributed to Pollard include one with no recorded history in the collection of the Chipstone Foundation.3 William M. Hornor illustrates another side chair from the set in Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, 1935, pl. 354 as the property of Richard Wistar Harvey (1868-1939), the son of Alexander Elmslie Harvey and Rachel Lewis Wistar of Philadelphia who married in 1865. Rachel Wistar was the daughter of Richard Wistar (1790-1863) and Hannah Owen Lewis (1795-1857) and a descendant of the prominent Wistar, Morris and Wharton families of Philadelphia.  A set of six other related Gothic chairs with carving attributed to Pollard was owned by Cecil Franklin Backus of Philadelphia and sold in these rooms, Important Americana from a Private Collection, sale 8776, lot 124. Two other side chairs illustrated by Sack and Kindig with the same splat as the Backus chairs features knee carving a claw feet that are very similar to this chair.4

1 Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Director (London, 1762), pl. X and XVI.
2 See Israel Sack Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Volume VI, P3920, p. 48.
3 See Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone, Madison, 1984, no. 59, pp. 136-7.
4 See Sack, Volume V, P3925, p. 1169 and Joe Kindig, Jr., advertisement in The Magazine Antiques (February 1951).