The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter A. Pfaffenroth: American Furniture, Silver and Decorative Arts
The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter A. Pfaffenroth: American Furniture, Silver and Decorative Arts
Very Rare Chippendale Carved Mahogany Open Armchair, Attributed to Daniel Trottier, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Circa 1785
Auction Closed
January 19, 09:11 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Very Rare Chippendale Carved Mahogany Open Armchair
Attributed to Daniel Trottier, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Circa 1785
Height 39 in. by Width 24 in. by Depth 19 3/4 in.
Joseph Kindig, Jr., York, Pennsylvania;
Mr. & Mrs. Bertram D. Coleman, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania;
Christie's New York, TheCollection of Mr. & Mrs. Bertram D. Coleman, January 16, 1998, lot 261;
Leigh Keno American Antiques, New York;
Sotheby's New York, Important Americana from a Private Collection, January 22, 2011, lot 2;
Private Collection;
Sotheby's New York, Important Americana, January 24, 2014, sale 9100, lot 341.
Lita Solis-Cohen, "Living with Antiques: The Bryn Mawr home of Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Dawson Coleman," Magazine Antiques (April 1966), p. 573;
The Decorative Arts Photographic Collection, Winterthur Museum, no. 66.1708;
Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976, cat. no. 117.
The unique carved slat-back chairs centering pierced foliate carved embellishments and foliate carved corners are distinctive characteristics of the cabinetmaker, Daniel Trotter (1747-1800). Born in Philadelphia in 1747 to the Quaker shoemaker William Trotter and his wife Elizabeth, Daniel Trotter completed his apprenticeship to William Wayne in 1768 and was working independently by 1769. He established a partnership with John Webb in 1771 and dissolved it three years later. He opened his first shop on Water Street soon after his marriage to Rebecca Conarroe on November 9, 1773.
The only documented furniture that can be traced to Daniel Trotter’s shop are two Demilune ends to a dining table, a semicircular bureau, four bedsteads and two sets of chairs made for Stephen Girard between 1786-1796. Trotter’s innovative and elegant design for his slat back chairs is not found on any English or American counterparts. Based on this unique design, many chairs have been attributed to him including an armchair and side chair in private collections illustrated by William M. Hornor;1 a side chair in the American Museum in Britain;2 a side chair at Winterthur;3 and a side chair formerly in the collection of George Lorimer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.4
1 See William M. Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, 1935, pls. 367 and 368.
2 See Helen Comstock, American Furniture, Exton, PA, 1962, no. 282.
3 See Charles Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period (New York, 1966): no. 82, pp. 137.
4 See Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, no. 62, pp. 109-10.