CHAIRS are seldom mentioned in the earliest colonial inventories, and few were in use in either England or America at that time. Forms and stools were used for seats in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and inventories of that period, even those of wealthy men, do not often contain more than one or two chairs. The chair was the seat of honor given to the guest, others sitting upon forms and stools. This custom was followed by the American colonists, and forms or benches and joint or joined stools constituted the common seats during the first part of the seventeenth century.

The chairs in use during that period were “thrown” or turned chairs; wainscot chairs, sometimes described as “scrowled” or carved chairs; and later, chairs covered with leather, or “Turkey work,” and other fabrics.

The best-known turned chair in this country is the “President’s Chair” at Harvard University. Dr. Holmes has written of it in “Parson Turell’s Legacy”:—

“—a chair of oak,—

Funny old chair, with seat like wedge,
Sharp behind and broad front edge,—
One of the oddest of human things,
Turned all over with knobs and rings,—
But heavy, and wide, and deep, and grand,—
Fit for the worthies of the land,—
Chief Justice Sewall a cause to try in,
Or Cotton Mather, to sit—and lie,—in.”

In the Bolles collection is a chair similar to the Harvard chair, and one is shown in Illustration 120, owned by Henry F. Waters, Esq., of Salem. A turned chair of the same period with a square seat is owned by the Connecticut Historical Society.

Provision was made for the youngest of the large family of children, with which the colonist was usually blessed, in the high chair, which is found in almost every type. A turned high chair is shown in Illustration 121, brought by Richard Mather to America in 1635, and used to hold the successive babies of that famous family,—Samuel, Increase, Cotton, and the others. The rod is missing which was fastened across the front to hold the child in, and only the holes show where the pegs were placed to support the foot-rest. This quaint little chair is owned by the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester.

A style of turned chair more commonly in use is shown in Illustration 122, said to have been brought on the Mayflower by Governor Carver. The chair in Illustration 123, originally owned by Elder Brewster, is of a rarer type, the spindles being greater in number and more finely turned. Both of these chairs are in Pilgrim Hall, in Plymouth. Turned chairs are not infrequently found of the type of Illustration 122, but rarely like the Brewster chair or the turned chair in Illustration 120.

The wainscot chair was made entirely of wood, usually oak, with a panelled back, from which came the name “wainscot.” Its valuation in inventories was two or three times that of the turned chair, which is probably the reason why wainscot chairs are seldom found.

The finest wainscot chair in this country is shown in Illustration 124. It belongs to the Essex Institute of Salem, having been given to that society in 1821 by a descendant of the original owner, Sarah Dennis of Ipswich, who possessed two of these chairs; the other is now the President’s chair at Bowdoin College.

A plainer form of the wainscot chair is shown in Illustration 125. It was brought to Newbury in the ship Hector, in 1633, and is now in the collection of the late Major Ben: Perley Poore, at Indian Hill.

By the middle of the seventeenth century chairs had become more common, and inventories of that period had frequent mention of leather or leather-backed chairs. Some of the earliest leather chairs have the under part of the frame similar to that of the wainscot chair, with plain legs and stretchers, while others have the legs and back posts turned. Illustration 126 shows a leather chair made about 1660, in the Waters collection. The seat and back have been covered with leather in the same manner as they were originally, as enough remained of the old cover to copy.

A chair of some later date, about 1680, is shown in Illustration 127, also from the Waters collection, the back and seat of which were originally of Turkey work. The frame is similar to that in Illustration 126, with the exception of the carved brace across the front, which feature leads one to give the chair a later date than the one in Illustration 126. The feet have been sawed off.

Other coverings beside Turkey work were used,—velvet, camlett, plush, or cloth, as well as an occasional cover “wrought by hir owne hand.” Until the latter part of the seventeenth century a somewhat architectural style prevailed in chairs, settles, and tables. This was succeeded by the graceful lines and carving of the cane furniture which came into fashion during the last quarter of that century. It is called Jacobean furniture, although that name would not seem to be strictly accurate, for the Jacobean period was ended before cane furniture was introduced into England, about 1678. The cane chairs form a complete contrast to the heavy wainscot or turned chairs in use previously, the light effect coming not only from the cane seat and back, but also from the frame, which was usually carved in a graceful design.

Illustration 128 shows a chair which belonged to Sir William Pepperell, made possibly for his father, for Sir William was not born until 1697. The front legs, carved with the scroll foot turning forward, are in the pure Flemish style. The brace in front, carved to correspond with the top of the back, appears in cane chairs with a carved frame.

The seat was originally of cane. This chair is now in the Alexander Ladd house in Portsmouth.

A chair of similar effect, but with turned legs, and carved in a different design, with the crown as the central figure of the underbrace and top, is shown in Illustration 129. It belongs to Miss Mary Coates of Philadelphia, to whom it has descended from Josiah Langdale, in whose inventory this chair, with its mates, was mentioned. Josiah Langdale took ship with his family and belongings, from England for America, in 1723.

Before sailing he became very ill and prayed that he might die and be buried in the old graveyard, but his wish was not granted, and he was carried on board, taking his coffin with him. Three days out (but not far from land) he died, and was buried in his coffin, at sea. The coffin was not sufficiently weighted, however, and it drifted back to land, where it was opened, and its occupant identified, and Josiah Langdale was buried from the old Quaker meeting-house, as he had prayed. His widow came safely to America with her furniture, among which was this chair.

Both Flemish and Spanish characteristics appear in the chair in Illustration 130. The front legs are in the Flemish style, the scroll foot turning back as it often does. The twisted stretchers and back posts show the influence of Spanish or Portuguese fashions. This chair is in the Poore collection at Indian Hill, Newburyport.

Illustration 131 shows two beautiful chairs owned by Dwight Blaney, Esq., of Boston. The Portuguese twist has an unusually graceful effect in the tall legs of the little high chair.

It will be noticed that, instead of being twisted, the upper part of the front legs is turned in balls to provide a stronger hold for the pegs which support the foot-rest. There are four holes for these pegs, at different heights, in order that the rest might be lowered as the infantile legs lengthened. The crown appears in the top of the high chair, while the arm-chair has a child’s figure carved in the centre of the top. The arms of both chairs are carved with the acanthus leaf.

An example of the finest carving attained in cane furniture is shown in Illustration 132. This exquisite chair is owned by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq., of Millbrook. The design of the top is repeated in the front brace, but much enlarged. The frame of the seat and the arms are carved like those in Illustration 131. The legs end in a curious form of the Spanish foot.

The popularity of the cane chair, as well as its strength, is attested by the number which have survived the centuries, in fair condition for chairs so light in appearance.

The cane chair in Illustration 133 is owned by Dwight M. Prouty, Esq., of Boston. The top of the under brace is carved in a crescent-shaped design, which is used again in the top rail. The front leg is a Flemish scroll with a ball beneath it. The cane back is unusual in design, the carved wood on each side making a diamond-shaped effect.

The chair in Illustration 134 belongs to the writer. The cane extends up into the curve made in the top rail of the back, which is, like the underbrace and the sides of the back, more elaborately carved than the chairs in Illustrations 128 and 129.

Stools were not common, but are occasionally found, following the styles in chairs. With the wainscot chairs were joined or joint stools.

The stool in Illustration 135 was used with the turned chair, like the one in Illustration 126.

Illustration 136 shows a very rare piece, a Flemish stool, with a carved underbrace, probably like the ones upon the cane-back chairs used with it. These two fine stools are in the collection of Dwight M. Prouty, Esq., of Boston.

A chair once owned by General Henry Dearborn of Revolutionary fame is shown in Illustration 137. The back and seat were originally cane, and it has a perfect Spanish foot.

The chair in Illustration 138 is of the style called Queen Anne. It has Spanish feet but the back shows the first use of the Dutch splat, afterward developed and elaborated by Chippendale and others. This chair and the one in Illustration 137 belong to the writer.

A chair which retained some characteristics of the cane chair was the banister-back chair, which appears in inventories of the first half of the eighteenth century.

Two banister-back chairs owned by the writer are shown in Illustration 139 and Illustration 140. It will be seen that the tops and one carved underbrace are similar to those upon cane chairs, while the legs of one chair end in a clumsy Spanish foot. The banisters which form the back are turned on one side and flat on the other.

These chairs have the flat side in front, but either side was used in banister chairs, plainer types of which are found, sometimes with the slats not turned, but straight and flat. The chair in Illustration 140 was used for the deacon’s chair in the old meeting-house in Westborough, Massachusetts, built in 1724, and it stood in “the deacon’s pue,” in front of the pulpit, for the deacon to sit upon, as was the custom.

Thedeacon must have longed for the two hours’ sermon to end, if he had to sit upon this chair with its high, narrow seat. There are several kinds of wood in these chairs, and when found they were painted black.

An unusually fine banister chair, from the Poore collection at Indian Hill, Newburyport, is shown in Illustration 141, with carved top and underbrace and Spanish feet. The seat is rush, as it usually is in banister chairs.

“Roundabout” chairs are met with in inventories from 1738 under various names,—“three-cornered chair,” “half round chair,” “round about chair,”—but they are now known as roundabout or corner chairs. They were made in different styles, like other chairs, from the turned or the Dutch bandy-leg, down to the carved Chippendale leg with claw-and-ball foot.

Illustration 142 shows a roundabout chair with turned legs, the front leg ending in a Dutch foot. This is in the Whipple house at Ipswich.

The most common chair during the first half of the eighteenth century was the “slat back,” with a rush seat. The number of slats varied; three, four, and five slats being used. The slats were also made in different designs, those made in Pennsylvania being curved.

Two slat-back chairs are shown in Illustration 143 from the Whipple house in Ipswich. The large chair was found in the country, stuffed and covered with many layers of wadding and various materials. When they were removed, this frame was disclosed, but the tops of the posts had been sawed off. The back posts should terminate in a turned knob, like the Carver chair in Illustration 122, which this chair strongly resembles, the slats taking the place of the turned spindles of the Carver chair. The small chair is probably of later date, and was evidently intended for a child’s use. Chairs with three-slat backs are in Illustrations 54 and 201.

Illustration 144 shows a five-slat or five-back chair owned by the writer. It was made about 1750, and the rockers were probably added twenty-five or thirty years later. They project as far in front as in the back, which is evidence of their age. Later rockers were made longer, probably for safety, the short rocker at the back proving dangerous to the equilibrium of a too vigorous occupant of the rocking chair. This chair has never been restored and is a very good example of the slat-back chair. It is painted black with lines of yellow.

Illustration 145 shows an arm-chair with a five-slat back which is now the property of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The slats are the typical Pennsylvania ones, made to fit the back, with a deeper curve than some, and, as may be seen by comparing them with others illustrated, with a more decided curve to both the upper and lower edges of the slats. The stretcher across the front is turned and is unusually heavy.

The type of chair succeeding the slat-back in popularity was the Windsor, which was made for years in large numbers both in England and America.

Windsor chairs made their first appearance in this country about 1730, in Philadelphia, and “Philadelphia made” Windsor chairs soon became very popular. Advertisements of them abound in newspapers up to 1800, and they may be found with the slat-back chairs in almost any country house, frequently upon the piazza, whence many a one has been bought by the keen-eyed collector driving along the road. The original Philadelphia fashion was to paint the chairs green, but after they were made all over the country they were probably painted to suit the taste of the buyer.

There is a story that the name Windsor was derived from the English town, where one of the royal Georges found in a shepherd’s cottage a chair of this style, which he bought and had others made from,—thereby setting the fashion.

Windsor chairs are found in several styles, two of which are shown in Illustration 146, owned by the writer. Side-chairs like the arm-chair were made with the dividing strip which connects the arms left out, and the rounding top rail continuing down to the seat. The other chair in the illustration is known as a “fan back” from its shape with the flaring top.

Illustration 147 shows a “comb-back” Windsor rocking-chair, owned by Mrs. Clarence R. Hyde, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The middle spindles are extended to form the little head-rest, from which the name is derived.

A fine, high-backed arm-chair, and a child’s chair are shown in Illustration 148, owned by Miss Mary Coates of Philadelphia. These chairs may have been some of the original Philadelphia-made Windsor chairs, as they were bought in that town by Benjamin Horner, who was born in 1737.

Windsor writing-chairs are occasionally found, and one is shown in Illustration 149, possessing more than common interest, for it is said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson, and upon its table may have been written the Declaration of Independence. It now belongs to the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. The seat is double, the top one revolving. The legs have been shortened.

Illustration 150 shows two late Windsor rocking-chairs, the one of curly maple being several years later than the other, as the rockers, short in front and long behind, bear evidence. These chairs are owned by the writer.

The Dutch chair with bandy or cabriole legs and a splat in the back made its appearance with the early years of the eighteenth century, and was the forerunner of the Chippendale chair. The first Dutch chairs have a back similar in form to the Queen Anne chair in Illustration 108, slightly higher and narrower than later backs. They are sometimes called Queen Anne chairs, and sometimes parrot-back, from the shape of the opening each side of the solid splat. The stretchers or underbraces of earlier chairs are retained in the first Dutch chairs, one of which is shown in Illustration 151, owned by Mrs. Charles H. Prentice, of Worcester.

The first mention found of claw-and-ball feet is in 1737, when “six Crowfoot chairs” appear in an inventory. In one of 1750, “chairs with Eagle’s foot and shell on the Knee” are entered.

A chair is shown in Illustration 152, still retaining the stretchers, but with the claw-and-ball foot and a shell at the top of the back. This chair was made about 1720-1730. It belongs to Walter Hosmer, Esq.

Illustration 153 shows a chair also belonging to Mr. Hosmer. It is made without stretchers, and the splat is pierced at the top.

A chair which retains the form of the Dutch chair, with “Eagle’s foot and shell on the Knee,” is shown in Illustration 154, but the splat is cut in an elaborate design, with the centre opening heart-shaped, which was the shape of the earliest piercing made in the plain splat. This chair and the one in Illustration 155 are in the Poore collection at Indian Hill, Newburyport. They show the development from the Dutch to the Chippendale style. The legs in Illustration 155 are carved upon the knee with an elaborate form of shell and a scroll. The splat is not pierced, but has a curious design of ropes with tassels carved at the top. These chairs were made about 1740-1750. The backs of the last four chairs are made with the characteristic Dutch top, curving down into the side-posts with rounded ends, with the effect of back and sides being in one piece.

A style of chair common during the first half of the eighteenth century is shown in Illustration 156; one chair having turned legs while the other ends in a Spanish foot. The tops are in the bow shape, and the splats are pierced, showing the influence of Chippendale fashions. The splat is alike in both, but the country cabinet-maker who probably made these chairs may have thought the splat would look as well one way as the other, and so put one in upside down. They are in the Deerfield Museum, and were made about 1750.

A roundabout chair in the Dutch style is shown in Illustration 157. The bandy legs end in a foot with a slight carving in grooves, and the seat is rounding upon the corners like that in the ordinary Dutch chair. This very graceful chair is owned by Francis H. Bigelow, Esq., of Cambridge.

Easy-chairs formed a part of the bedroom furniture inventoried during the eighteenth century, and they were made in various styles, with Dutch, Chippendale, and Hepplewhite legs. Hepplewhite gives a design in 1787 for what he calls “an easy-chair,” and also a “saddle-check chair,” while upon the same page, with intentional suggestion, is a design for a “gouty-stool.”

Illustration 158 shows an easy-chair with the Dutch bandy leg and foot, owned by the writer. Such chairs were inventoried very high, from one pound to ten, and when one considers the amount of material required to stuff and cover the chair, the reason for the high valuation is understood. In the days when the fireplace gave what heat there was in the room, these great chairs must have been most comfortable, with the high back and sides to keep out draughts.

An easy-chair with claw-and-ball feet is shown in Illustration 159. It is owned by Francis H. Bigelow, Esq., of Cambridge. A beautiful easy-chair with carved cabriole legs, owned by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq., is shown in Illustration 248.

We now come to the most important period in the consideration of chairs,—the last half of the eighteenth century. During this period many books of designs were published, which probably came to this country within a year or two of their publication, and which afforded American cabinet-makers an opportunity for copying the best English examples.

Chippendale’s designs were published in 1753, Hepplewhite’s in 1789, Sheraton’s in 1791. Besides these three chief chair-makers, there were Ince and Mayhew, 1765; Robert Manwaring, 1765; R. and J. Adam, 1773; and others of less note.

Chippendale drew most of his ideas from the French, notably in the way of ornamentation, but the form of his chairs was developed chiefly from the Dutch style, with the bandy leg and splat in the back. His straight-legged chairs were suggested by the Chinese furniture, which was fashionable about the middle of the eighteenth century. These various styles Chippendale adapted, and employed with such success that his was the strongest influence of the century upon furniture, and for a period of over thirty years it was supreme.

The claw-and-ball foot does not appear upon any of Chippendale’s designs in “The Gentleman’s and Cabinet-Maker’s Director.”

His preference was plainly for the French scroll foot, shown upon the sofa in Illustration 209 and the candle-stand in Illustration 333. Doubtless, however, he made furniture with the claw-and-ball foot, which was the foot used by the majority of his imitators and followers.

An early Chippendale chair is shown in Illustration 160, from the Poore collection at Indian Hill, with stretchers, which are unusual in a Chippendale chair. The cabriole legs are carved upon the knee and end in a claw-and-ball foot.

The top of the back has the bow form, which is a distinguishing characteristic of Chippendale. This chair-seat and the one following are very large and broad.

The lines in the back of the chair in Illustration 161 form a series of curves, extremely graceful in effect, and the carving upon the back and legs is very fine. This chair is one of a set of six owned by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq.

Illustration 162 shows a chair owned by Miss Mary Coates of Philadelphia. The design of the back, with some variations, is often seen. The top forms a complete bow with the ends turning up, and a shell is carved in the centre.

A variation of this back is shown in Illustration 163. The top has a fan instead of a shell, and the ends of the bow top are grooved.

This chair is one of a set formerly owned by Miss Rebecca Shaw of Wickford, Rhode Island, who died in 1900, over ninety years of age. They are now in the possession of Mrs. Alice Morse Earle of Brooklyn, New York.

A fine arm-chair owned by Miss Mary Coates is shown in Illustration 164.

Two very beautiful and unusual Chippendale arm-chairs are shown in Illustration 165. They are owned by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq., and the larger chair, which was formerly in the Pendleton collection, is undoubtedly an original Chippendale. Its proportions are perfect, and the elaborate carving is finely done. The other chair presents some Dutch characteristics, in the shape of the seat and back, but the details of the carving indicate it to be after the school of Chippendale.

Illustration 166 shows a graceful chair with carving upon the back and knees. It belonged formerly to Governor Strong of Massachusetts, and is now owned by W. S. G. Kennedy, Esq., of Worcester.

The roundabout chair in Illustration 167 was originally owned by the Rev. Daniel Bliss, the Congregational minister in Concord, Massachusetts, from 1739 to 1766. He was succeeded by William Emerson, who married his daughter, and who was the grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson. William Emerson died in 1777, and Dr. Ezra Ripley succeeded to the pastorate and the widow, and took possession of the manse and of this chair, which must have served the successive ministers at the desk, while many hundreds of sound sermons were written. It now belongs to the Concord Antiquarian Society.

An unusually fine example of a Dutch corner chair with an extension top, is shown in Illustration 168, owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The finest type of roundabout chair is shown in Illustration 169. It is of mahogany and has but one cabriole leg, the others being uncompromisingly straight, but the cabriole leg, and the top rail and arms are carved finely with the acanthus design, worn almost smooth on the arms. It belongs to Dwight M. Prouty, Esq.

Illustration 170 shows a chair owned by Albert S. Rines, Esq., of Portland, Maine.

It is extraordinarily good in design and carving, fine in every detail. The gadrooned edge upon this and the roundabout chair is found only upon the best pieces.

Illustration 171 shows one of six chairs owned by the writer.

The design of the chair-back in Illustration 172 is one that was quite common. The chair belongs to the writer.

The chair in Illustration 173 is owned by Mrs. E. A. Morse of Worcester; the one in Illustration 174 is in the Waters collection, in Salem, and is one of a set of six. The legs and the rail around the seat of the last chair are carved in a rosette design in low relief.

About the middle of the eighteenth century it was fashionable to decorate houses and gardens in “Chinese taste,” and furniture was designed for “Chinese temples” by various cabinet-makers. That the American colonies followed English fashions closely is shown by the advertisement in 1758 of Theophilus Hardenbrook, surveyor, who with unfettered fancy modestly announced that he “designs all sorts of Buildings, Pavilions, Summer Rooms, Seats for Gardens”; also “all sorts of rooms after the taste of the Arabian, Chinese, Persian, Gothic, Muscovite, Paladian, Roman, Vitruvian, and Egyptian.”

Illustration 175 shows a Chippendale chair in “Chinese taste” owned by Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq., of Millbrook. The legs and stretchers are straight, like those of Chinese chairs, and the outline of the back is Chinese, but the delicate carving is English. A sofa and a chair in “Chinese taste” are shown in Illustration 211.

Illustration 176 and Illustration 177 show two Chippendale chairs with backs of entirely different design from the splat-back chairs previously illustrated. Their form was probably suggested by that of the slat-back chair. Illustration 176 is one of a set of six, originally owned by Joseph Brown, one of the four famous brothers of Providence, whose dignified names, John, Joseph, Nicholas, and Moses, have been familiarly rhymed as “John and Josey, Nick and Mosey.” The six chairs are now owned by their kinswoman, Mrs. David Thomas Moore of Westbury, Long Island. Each slat is delicately carved, and the chairs represent the finest of this type of Chippendale chairs. Illustration 177 shows a chair owned by Charles R. Waters, Esq., of Salem, with carved slats in the back. Chairs with this back but with plain slats are not unusual.

Hepplewhite’s designs were published in 1789, and his light and attractive furniture soon became fashionable, superseding that of Chippendale, which was pronounced “obsolete.” Hepplewhite’s aim was to produce a light effect, and to this he often sacrificed considerations of strength and durability.

While Chippendale used no inlaying, Hepplewhite’s furniture is ornamented with both carving and inlay, as well as painting. His chairs may be distinguished by the shape and construction of the back, which was usually of oval, shield, or heart shape. The carving in Hepplewhite’s chairs is of quite a different character from that of Chippendale. The three feathers of the Prince of Wales often form a part of the back, for Hepplewhite was of the Prince’s party when feeling ran strong during the illness of George III.

Carved drapery, wheat, and the bell-flower, sometimes called husks, are other characteristics of Hepplewhite’s chairs, two of which are shown in Illustration 178, belonging to Dwight Blaney, Esq., of Boston. The Prince’s feathers appear in the middle of one chair-back and upon the top rail of the other.

Illustration 179 shows an arm-chair from a set of Hepplewhite dining-chairs owned by Francis H. Bigelow, Esq., of Cambridge. The back is carved with a design of drapery and ears of wheat.

A chair is shown in Illustration 180, which has features of several styles. The legs are French and the width of the seat; the splat joins the seat in the manner of Chippendale; the anthemion design of the splat is in the Adam style and the carving on the top rail, but the rail is Hepplewhite’s.

It is probably an early Hepplewhite chair, made before his own style was fully formulated, and the combination has resulted in a beautiful chair. It belongs to J. J. Gilbert, Esq., of Baltimore.

The chair in Illustration 181 is also in Mr. Gilbert’s collection. Although the shield back is generally accredited to Hepplewhite, Adam made it before him and it was used by the other chair-makers of his time. This chair shows very strongly the Adam influence in the carved and reeded legs and the fine carving, which is called guilloche, upon the arms and around the back and the frame of the seat.

The entire chair is beautifully carved.

The arm-chair shown in Illustration 182 has stood since 1835 in front of the pulpit in the Unitarian church in Leicester, Massachusetts, but of its history nothing is known for the years before that date, when it was probably given to the new church, then just starting with its young pastor, Rev. Samuel May. This chair, like the one in Illustration 181, which it resembles, has characteristics of different styles. It is probable that both Hepplewhite and Sheraton had practised their trade some years, and had made much furniture before their books were published in 1789 and 1791, and had adopted and adapted many ideas from the cabinet-makers and designers of the day, as well as from each other.

The chair in Illustration 183 was used by Washington in the house occupied as the Presidential mansion in Philadelphia. It is now owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. This chair has the same guilloche carving as the chair in Illustration 181, extending entirely around the back. The legs are short and the chair low and wide, and this with the stuffed back indicates that the chair is French.

The chair in Illustration 184 is also in the rooms of the Historical Society, and is one of the set owned by Washington. The urn and festoons in the back show a marked Adam influence, but the three feathers above the urn are Hepplewhite’s.

A very fine arm chair is shown in Illustration 185, owned by Dwight M. Prouty, Esq. The mahogany frame is heavier than in later chairs of the same style, and the arms end in a bird’s head and bill.

During the transition period between Chippendale and Hepplewhite, features of the work of both appeared in chairs.

The chair in Illustration 186 has the Chippendale splat, with the three feathers in it, and the top rail has the Hepplewhite curve. It belongs to Mrs. Clarence R. Hyde, of Brooklyn, N. Y.

Illustration 187 shows one of a set of six very beautiful Hepplewhite chairs bought originally by the grandfather of their present owner, Charles R. Waters, Esq., of Salem. This chair is carved upon the legs with the bell-flower, and the three middle rails of the back are exquisitely carved. Chairs of this design, with the ornament of inlay instead of carving, are also found.

The chair in Illustration 188 belongs to W. S. G. Kennedy, Esq., of Worcester. The rails are not carved or inlaid, but the fan-shaped ornament at the lower point of the shield back is of holly and ebony, inlaid. This design of Hepplewhite chair is more frequently found than any other.

A specialty of Hepplewhite’s was what he terms “a very elegant fashion.” The chair-backs were finished with painted or japanned work. This was not the lacquering which had been fashionable during the first half of the eighteenth century, with Chinese figures, but it was a process of coating the chairs with a sort of lacquer varnish, and then painting them in gold or colors upon a black ground.

Haircloth was used for the seats of chairs; the edges were finished with brass-headed nails, arranged sometimes to simulate festoons, as in Illustration 191.

A Hepplewhite chair with a back of quite a different design from the examples described previously, is shown in Illustration 189. The back is heart-shaped, and the ornamentation is of inlaying in light and dark wood. This chair is one of four in the Poore collection at Indian Hill. They formed a part of the set bought by Washington for Mount Vernon, and were in use there at the time of his death.

A chair owned by Miss Mary Coates of Philadelphia is shown in Illustration 190. The characteristic bell-flower is carved in the middle of the back of this chair.

Hepplewhite in turn was superseded by Sheraton, whose book of designs was published in 1791, only two years later than Hepplewhite’s; but that short time sufficed for Sheraton to say that “this book [Hepplewhite’s] has already caught the decline”; while he asserted of Chippendale’s designs, that “they are now wholly antiquated and laid aside, though possessed of great merit, according to the times in which they were executed.”

Sheraton’s chairs retained many of Hepplewhite’s characteristics, but the great difference between them lay in the construction of the back, which it was Sheraton’s aim to strengthen. His chairs, except in rare cases, do not have the heart or shield shaped back, which distinctly marks Hepplewhite chairs, but the back is rectangular in shape, the top rail being curved, straight, or with a raised piece in the centre, corresponding to the piece in the middle of the back. A rail extends across the back a few inches above the seat, and the splat or spindles end in this rail, and never extend to the seat.

Sheraton’s designs show chairs with carved, twisted, reeded, or plain legs. The best Sheraton chairs found in this country usually have straight legs, slightly smaller than those upon the straight-legged Chippendale chairs. The tapering, reeded leg, which is characteristic of Sheraton, is not found so often upon his chairs as upon other pieces of furniture.

The chair in Illustration 191 is owned by the Misses Nichols of Salem, and it was brought with its mates to furnish the house built by McIntire in 1783. The chairs were imported, and as the back is precisely like one of Sheraton’s designs in his book, they may have been made by him, before the book was published in 1791.

The impression given by this chair is of strength combined with lightness, the effect which Sheraton strove to attain, while at the same time he made the chairs strong not only in effect but in reality, an end which Hepplewhite did not accomplish. The legs of the chair are plainly turned, but in the original design they are reeded.

Illustration 192 shows two Sheraton chairs owned by Francis H. Bigelow, Esq. It will be seen that the carving in the back is similar in design to that of Hepplewhite chairs, and the carving and shape of the upper part of the chair-back with the curved top rail is often seen upon Hepplewhite’s “bar-back” chairs.

Mr. Bigelow also owns the upholstered arm-chair in Illustration 193, sometimes called a Martha Washington easy-chair, from a similar chair at Mount Vernon. This chair and one in Illustration 194, which belongs to Mr. Bigelow, are after the Sheraton style, although these designs do not appear in Sheraton’s books.

The arm-chair in Illustration 194 is said to have belonged to Jerome Bonaparte, but as Lucien and Joseph Bonaparte both had residences in this country, it would more probably have been owned by one of them rather than by Jerome, whose career in America was short and meteoric. The wood of this chair is cherry, said to have grown upon the island of Corsica, and the style of the back, while upon the Sheraton order, differs from any of Sheraton’s designs.

The chair in Illustration 195 belongs to Walter Bowne Lawrence, Esq., of Flushing, Long Island. It is one of the finest types of a Sheraton chair. The front legs end in what Hepplewhite called a “spade foot,” which was frequently employed by him and occasionally by Sheraton.

Illustration 196 shows a Sheraton chair owned by Mrs. E. A. Morse of Worcester. The top bar is carved with graceful festoons of drapery, and the back is in a design which is often seen.

A chair after Sheraton’s later designs is shown in Illustration 197. It is one which was popular in the first decade of the nineteenth century. This chair is part of a set inherited by Waldo Lincoln, Esq., of Worcester.

The chair shown in Illustration 198 is owned by Mrs. J. C. Cutter of Worcester. It has a rush seat, and the back is painted in the manner called japanning, with gilt flowers upon a black ground. These chairs, which were called “Fancy chairs,” were very popular during the first part of the nineteenth century, together with settees decorated in the same fashion.

Illustration 199 shows two mahogany chairs owned by Waldo Lincoln, Esq., of the styles which were fashionable from 1840 to 1850, examples of which may be found in almost every household, along with heavy sofas and tables of mahogany, solid or veneered.

In the first half of the nineteenth century and in the last quarter of the eighteenth, furniture was fashionable made of the light-colored woods; maple, curly and bird’s-eye, and in the more expensive pieces, satinwood, which was used chiefly as a veneer on account of its cost. The two varieties of maple, being a native wood and plentiful, were always used lavishly, and rarely as a veneer. The thick maple drawers in old bureaus have been sawed into many thicknesses to use in violins, for which their seasoned wood is especially valuable. The parlor in John Hancock’s house, in Boston, was “furnished in bird’s-eye maple covered with damask brocade.” As Governor Hancock was a man of inherited wealth and probably of fashion as well, his parlor would be furnished according to the mode of the day.

The three maple chairs in Illustration 200 belong to the writer. They were probably made about 1820 to 1830. The wood in all is beautifully marked curly maple, and in the upper rail of two is set a strip of bird’s-eye maple. The design of the carved piece across the back is one that was used at this time in both maple and mahogany chairs.

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