Near Pair of American Classical Carved Mahogany Armchairs

Object Details

Related Objects

Pair of American Classical Carved Mahogany Side Chairs

Shop of Duncan Phyfe
ca. 1800-1810

wood; mahogany; cherry; eastern white pine

Near Pair of American Classical Carved Mahogany Side Chairs

Shop of Duncan Phyfe
ca. 1800-1810

wood; mahogany; ash; sweetgum; eastern white pine; soft maple

Object Essay

These armchairs, attributed to the workshop of the master cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe, illustrate the variety of decorative and design elements available to New York patrons in the early nineteenth century. Many of these elements reflect the popularity of symbols from ancient Greece and Rome, and directly derive from patterns described in The London Chair-Makers’ and Carvers’ Book of Prices for Workmanship, first published in 1802, reissued in 1807, and later emulated in the United States in The New York Book of Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair Work, published in 1817 and printed by J. Seymour. 

So ubiquitous were these types of chairs that each element was listed and priced according to complexity of workmanship and amount of labor required. Hundreds of chairs made in New York City from 1800 to 1825 are known, and although Duncan Phyfe’s establishment was prolific, it is unlikely that it produced all of these chairs. Such chairs are better seen as illustrations of a style favored in one city, with attributions to Phyfe given guardedly. 

An analysis of these chairs in the Collection suggests, nonetheless, that they were indeed made in Phyfe’s workshop. One (See Acc. No. 80.80.2) contains many of the most popular features of chairs attributed to Phyfe: the crest with a carved panel featuring the ribbon, bowknot, and reed design; double crossbar splats with rosette-carved centers; bowed serpentine arms with a reeded facade; acanthus-carved, urn-shaped, turned-arm supports; a bell-shaped seat with a reeded facade; reeded front legs with bulbous, tapered feet; and raked, square rear legs.^{1_{An almost identical chair is in Sack Collection, 2: P4343 (ex-collection Israel Sack, Inc., New York, 1938, and ex-collection Charles K. Davis).}}

The second armchair in the Collection (see Acc. No. 80.80.1) is the more modern and elaborate version of this high-style New York form. Two embellishments make this a more expensive example: the front legs turn outward and end in brass paw feet, and there are urns at the termination of the rear stiles and on part of the arm support. With the exception of the paw feet, this chair is very similar to a set that William Bayard purchased from Duncan Phyfe in 1807.^{2_{Twelve chairs from the larger of these two sets are owned by Winterthur and are described in Montgomery 1966, 120–21. An example that relates closely to the Collection’s example is also owned by Winterthur (Ibid., 121–22). A side chair with a single-cross back and paw feet is illustrated in Cornelius, pl. I. Additional examples of related chair forms in the Department of State collection are discussed in Conger and Rollins, Treasures of State, cat. no.136 (Acc. No. 80.81).}}

Page Talbott

Excerpted from Jonathan L. Fairbanks. Becoming a Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State. New York: Rizzoli, 2003.