The Important Biddle Family Queen Anne Carved Walnut Armchair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1755

Height 45 1/2 in.

Descended in the Biddle family;

David Stockwell, Wilmington, Delaware.

John Walker, Experts Choice: 1000 Years of the Art Trade (New York: 1983), p. 129.

A triumph of American late Baroque design, this armchair is a masterpiece of curvilinear form and is part of the only known American suite of armchairs. Their curvilinear form exemplifies the refined elegance of the mid-eighteenth-century Philadelphia Queen Anne style. Standing approximately three inches higher than comparable forms, the chair’s height suggests that the suite was specially commissioned for a specific, though still unknown, purpose. At the time of their creation, the quality of wood used, and their level of craftsmanship denotes that this suite of chairs were an exceptionally costly undertaking. While sets of armchairs occasionally appear in eighteenth-century inventories, this group represents the only known surviving example of such a suite. Based on numbering found on the frames and slip-seats, the original set consisted of at least eight chairs, seven of which are known. Given the size of the suite and their quality it reasons that they were intended for a space used to host gatherings among Philadelphia’s wealthiest citizens.

The surviving seven chairs have various provenances which supports the theory that they originally furnished a public or semi-public space and was dispersed at an early date rather than descending along family lines. The names associated with the chairs comprise members of the Thomson, Staats-Lourette, Bacon, Smith, Biddle and Hazard families. Previous research has explored the links between the earliest known owner of chair VIII, John Jay Smith (1798-1881), and the history of the Loganian Library, as well as the presence of a set of eight armchairs in the parlor of the first president of the Philadelphia Hospital. Both institutions occupied newly built accommodations that would have needed furnishings around the time these chairs were made (See Sotheby’s, New York, October 7, 2006, lot 318; Christie’s, January 22, 2016, lot 67; Christie’s, January 21 2022, lot 358). 

The other known examples from the set comprise the following:

Unnumbered: History in the Thomson family, by descent to Eleanor (Thomson) Mullen (1902-2001); Philadelphia Museum of Art (1964-212-1, deaccessioned); Christie’s, New York, American Furniture, Folk Art and Silver, January 22, 2016, sale 11985, lot 67; Erving and Joy Wolf; Sotheby’s, New York, The Spirit of America: The Wolf Family Collection, April 19, 2023, sale N11310, lot 41; private collection.

Numbered II: History in the Hazard family of Newport, Rhode Island, Christie’s, New York, Important Americana, January 24, 2025, sale 23266, lot 563.

Numbered III: History in the Staats-Latourette family, Bound Brook, New Jersey; Winterthur Museum, acc. no. 59.2501.

Numbered IIII: Probably owned by Job Bacon (1735-1801); descended in the Bacon-Wood-Dunn families; Eric Martin Wunsch; Christie’s, New York, Important Americana, January 21, 2022, sale 19907, lot 358; private collection.

Numbered V: No family history known; sold Sotheby’s, New York, Americana, October 7, 2006, sale 8209, lot 318; private collection.

Numbered VIII: Previously owned by John Jay Smith (1798-1881), Philadelphia; Winterthur Museum, acc. no. 59.2500.