Beschreibung:

Very Fine and Rare Pair of Chippendale Carved Mahogany Side ChairsCarving attributed to John Pollard (1740-1787)Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaCirca 1770
Chairs marked II and IIII. One chair with accession number 30-173-2.
Height 38 1/2 in. by Width 24 in. by Depth 20 1/2 in. Seat Height 17 1/2 in.Condition reportFor further information on the condition of this lot please contact americana@sothebys.com LiteratureJoe Kindig Antiques advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (January 2007).Catalogue noteThe sophisticated design and refined craftsmanship of these side chairs place them among the superior examples of Philadelphia seating furniture in the Rococo style. Their splat is a variation of the interlaced Gothic splat inspired by plate XVI of The Gentleman & Cabinetmakers Director by Thomas Chippendale who noted that the over upholstered seat was the most sophisticated option for the form. The exceptional carving on the chairs is attributed to John Pollard (1740-1787), the Philadelphia carver. The distinctive pendant bellflower with beads on the splat is a trademark motif found in Pollard’s work. He executed very similar pendant bellflowers on the crest of commode seat side chairs with hairy paw feet commissioned by John Cadwalader (1742-1786) from Benjamin Randolph (1737-1792) in circa 1769.1 John Pollard was the principle carver in Randolph’s shop at the time of the Cadwalader commission and is believed to be responsible for the masterful carving of the commode seat chairs.2 As Pollard was known to reuse his carving repertoire, this motif is found on other examples of his work, including a set of chairs made for David Deshler (d. 1792), a set of chairs made for Charles Thomson and a tea table made for the Biddle family.3 
Other identical side chairs appearing to stem from same set are known. One chair with its original finish sold at Sotheby’s, Important Americana, January 16-17, 1999, sale 7253, lot 835. One is illustrated in American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Volume I, no. 459, p. 175. Another is in the collection of Winterthur Museum.4  Two others are in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg.5
1 For two chairs from the Cadwalader suite, see Leroy Graves and Luke Beckerdite, “New Insights on John Cadwalder’s Commode-Seat Side Chairs,” American Furniture 2000, figs. 3 and 5, pp. 154-5. See also Andrew Brunk, “Benjamin Randolph Revisited,” American Furniture 2007, fig. 48, p. 33.2 See Graves and Beckerdite, pp. 153 and 156.3 One chair from the Deshler set is illustrated in Israel Sack Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Volume VI, P3920, p. 48. See one chair from the Thomson set at Chipstone in Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone, Madison, 1984, no. 63, pp. 144-5 and for the tea table, Christie’s, January 18-19, 2001, lot 119.4 See Joseph Downs, American Furniture (New York, 1952): no. 1315 Object number 1930-173, 1. See The Magazine Antiques (January 1969): p. 132).