Beschreibung:

Very Fine and Rare Set of Four Chippendale Carved Mahogany Side ChairsPossibly the workshop of Thomas Tufft (c. 1740-1788), Carving possibly by John Pollard (1740-1787)Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaCirca 1775
Chairs retain a rich dark historic surface. Chairs marked consecutively I, II, III, and IIII.
Height 38 in. by Width 24 1/2 in. by Depth 21 in.; Seat Height 17 1/2 in.Condition reportFor further information on the condition of this lot please contact americana@sothebys.com LiteratureJoe Kindig, Jr., Magazine Antiques, 26 (July 1934);
Joseph K. Kindig, III, The Philadelphia Chair, 1685-1785, (York, PA: Historical Society of York County, 1978), no. 52.Catalogue noteThis set of four side chairs displays a variation on the interlaced Gothic splat, in which paired C-scrolls ending in small volutes flank the central pointed arch. Multiple sets of extant Philadelphia chairs with this splat type indicate this form was popular in Colonial Philadelphia and made with straight seat rails, serpentine seat rails, over-upholstered seat rails, and the paired C-scrolls seen here. The sculptural carving found on the crest and knees of these chairs can be attributed to John Pollard (1740-1787), the Philadelphia carver, since they relate directly to other examples of his work. Nearly identical crest rail motifs are displayed on a set of chairs with a history in the Deshler family of Philadelphia.1 That set of chairs stems from a larger suite of furniture including a pair of card tables and an easy chair likely commissioned by Esther Deshler Morton (c. 1744-1791) and John Morton (1739-1828) on the occasion of their marriage in 1769.2 The chairs and tables in the group are believed to have been made by Thomas Tufft (1740-1788) when he was in partnership with James Gillingham (1736-1781). The tables and chairs share similarities with furniture bearing Tuffts label such as the shaping of the front rails and the arc of the knees returns connecting the rails and cabriole legs.3 These four side chairs display these distinctive details and possibly stem from the Tufft shop.
Very similar knee carving is known on a set of chairs made for Charles Thomson with carving attributed to Pollard.4 Other side chairs from related sets also with carving attributed to Pollard include two offered in this sale with over-upholstered seats and two others with a history in the Wistar family sold at Christie’s, Property from the Collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, January 21, 2006, sale 1618, lot 535.
1 One chair from the Deshler set is illustrated in Israel Sack Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Volume VI, P3920, p. 48. Four side chairs from the set are in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and illustrated in Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, American Furniture, 1650-1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2020): nos. 79-82, p. 114.
2 For one of the card tables, see ibid no. 78, p. 114.
3 See a high chest labeled by Tuffts in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, ibid, no. 84, p. 116-117, along with its companion dressing table no. 85.
4 For one of the chairs from the Thomson set now at Chipstone, see Oswaldo Rodriquez Roque, American Furniture at Chipstone (Madison, 1984): no. 63, pp. 144-5.