CHIPPENDALE ARMCHAIR Philadelphia Circa 1770
Associated with George Washington’s living quarters as President in Philadelphia Primary Wood: Mahogany, Secondary Woods: Yellow Pine, Atlantic White Cedar Height: 42 3 / 4 inches, Width: 24 1 / 2 inches, Depth: 19 1 / 2 inches Provenance: This armchair, its mate at Winterthur, and a surviving set of five side chairs all have a history of use in the presidential house in Philadelphia. This chair and the Winterthur armchair share a history of ownership in the Turner family of Philadelphia. Family legend states that the chairs were used as “the Bishop’s chair in the chancel of Trinity Church Philadelphia, ... (but) when the chancel was remodeled the chair was returned.” Reference: This chair remained in the family and was undiscovered until the present. The Winterthur armchair is pictured in Joseph Downs, American Furniture in The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods , entry 37 and Charles Hummel, A Winterthur Guide to American Chippendale Furniture: Middle Atlantic and Southern Colonies , entry 41. See also Stephen Decatur’s 1941 article “George Washington and his Presidential Furni- ture” in The American Collector, February 1941 , pages 8-11 for a discussion of the set of chairs and their association with Washington. The remaining sidechairs reside at Winterthur, in the Kaufman Collection, see J. Michael Flanigan, American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection , entry 6, and private collections, see The Magazine Antiques , May 1985, page 949.
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