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Lot Essay
A masterful expression of curvilinear design, this armchair is a newly discovered seventh example from one of the most famed and intriguing sets of seating from mid-eighteenth century Philadelphia, the only American set of armchairs known in the Queen Anne style. The chairs are noticeably taller than the norm, about three inches greater in height than similar forms, further suggesting that the set was specially commissioned for a specific but as of yet, unknown purpose. The quantity and quality of these chairs would have made them a costly investment and the set was no doubt used in a space that hosted small gatherings among some of Philadelphia’s more prosperous citizens. At the same time, as each chair was equally grand in stature, the set would have promoted a harmonious setting free of hierarchical distinctions.
From its design and wood choice to the hidden areas of its construction, this armchair illustrates the same practices exhibited by other known survivals from the set (figs. 1, 2; see below).[1] Four others are known to have Roman numerals on the interior of the rear rail; taken with the available evidence from numbering on slip-seats, these numbers do not repeat and indicate that the set originally comprised eight chairs. The example offered here is numbered II in thin incisions similar to those with numbers III and VIII at Winterthur Museum, and IIII and V in private collections (fig. 3). The distinctive burl grain of the solid splat, with a knotty darker column set within U-shaped growth rings, is nearly identical to that seen on chair V, and the two splats appear to be near adjacent cross-cuts from the same flitch of wood. Closely related graining seen on the chairs numbered III, IIII and VIII, as well as a chair whose numbering is unknown, suggest that these chairs’ splats were all from the same block of highly figured walnut.
Additional aspects seemingly distinctive to this set of chairs is the use of iron braces to reinforce the junctures of the crests and stiles (fig. 4). These braces were part of the original construction, perhaps added because of the chairs’ exceptional height but possibly also in anticipation of the chairs being used in a communal setting. Furthermore, the chairs have evidence that the seats were screwed to the chair frames, perhaps another indication that the chairs were going to be handled less carefully, or perhaps in a place with less security, than those destined for private parlors. Other details, such as small, circular impressions left by clamps when gluing the applied seat rims, visible on the underside of the front seat rail near the front edge, on chair IIII and the chair offered here further demonstrate the habitual practices of a single shop. Less unusual are the combination of many standard techniques seen in Philadelphia chairmaking in the 1750s. On this set, the extreme curves of the rounded stiles are laminated, the splats are solid rather than veneered, the arms are double-pegged to the stiles and as mentioned above the seat rims are applied rather than integral (aside from one exception noted below).
The lack of common ancestry among the surviving examples further substantiates the likelihood that the set originally furnished a public or semi-public space and was dispersed at an early date rather than descending along family lines. The names associated with the other chairs comprise members of the Thomson, Staats-Lourette, Bacon, Smith, and Biddle families. Previous research has explored the links between the earliest known owner of chair VIII, John Jay Smith (1798-1881), and the history of the Loganian Library, as well as the presence of a set of eight armchairs in the parlor of the first president of the Philadelphia Hospital. Both institutions occupied newly built accommodations that would have needed furnishings around the time these chairs were made.[2]
The discovery of the chair offered here adds another family name associated with the group: the Hazard family. The direct ancestry of the chair’s owner in the late twentieth century appears to have little in common with the Philadelphia families mentioned above.[3] However, an allied branch, that of Thomas Hazard (1720-1798) provides geographic and religious ties to the Bacon and Smith families. A prominent and devout Quaker, Thomas, later known as “College Tom,” travelled widely delivering sermons. He probably visited Burlington, New Jersey where his son Rowland Hazard (1763-1836) later lived for a time.[4] It was also where John Jay Smith, who owned chair VIII in the late nineteenth century, grew up on his family’s large estate, Green Hill, just outside of the city. As penned by Smith, “my parents’ connections with the very best and wealthiest class of Friends rendered their house a resort of the travelling preachers.” Furthermore, at least one of Rowland Hazard’s sons attended the Westtown Boarding School, as did Smith and his siblings who were around the same age.[5] Thus, it is highly likely that some or all of these members of the Hazard and Smith families were in direct contact.
It is also possible that the chair offered here came to Newport via Benjamin Raper Smith (1825-1904). John Jay was particularly close to his first cousin and Benjamin’s father, Daniel B. Smith (1792-1883). Benjamin, who is known to have collected furniture from different branches of his family, inherited the Thomas Robinson house in Newport where he deposited a number of heirlooms from his extended relations. Bearing painted shipping instructions, a high chest in this sale (lot 575) is one example of Benjamin’s removal of eighteenth-century Pennsylvania furniture to his Newport home.
The above connections raise the possibility that the original context for the use of these armchairs was directly or indirectly related to a Quaker setting as later owners appear to have had leadership roles within these communities. John Jay Smith can also be tied to the family of Job Bacon (1735-1801), who probably owned chair IIII in the late eighteenth century. John Jay’s younger brother, Morris (1801-1832), married Caroline M. Smith (1805-1872) whose parents were Robert Smith (1770-1857), the first editor of the Quaker periodical, The Friend, and Mary Bacon (1781-1857). Mary’s father, Job Bacon (1735-1801), probably owned chair IIII in the late eighteenth century.
The other known examples from the set comprise the following:
Unnumbered: History in the Thomson family, by descent to Eleanor (Thomson) Mullen (1902-2001); Philadelphia Museum of Art (1964-212-1, deaccessioned); Christie’s, 22 January 2016, lot 67; Erving and Joy Wolf; Sotheby’s, 19 April 2023, lot 41; private collection. Illustrated here as fig. 2.
Numbered II: the chair in the present lot.
Numbered III: History in the Staats-Latourette family, Bound Brook, New Jersey; Winterthur Museum, acc. no. 59.2501.
Numbered IIII: Probably owned by Job Bacon (1735-1801); descended in the Bacon-Wood-Dunn families; Martin Wunsch; sold Christie’s, 21 January 2022, lot 358; private collection. Illustrated here as fig. 1.
Numbered V: No family history known; sold Sotheby’s, October 7, 2006, lot 318; private collection.
Numbered VIII: Previously owned by John Jay Smith (1798-1881), Philadelphia; Winterthur Museum, acc. no. 59.2500.
[unknown numbering]: Descended in the Biddle family; David Stockwell (illustrated in John Walker, Experts Choice: 1000 Years of the Art Trade (New York, 1983), p. 129); current whereabouts unknown.
1. The evidence for the practices of other chairs from the set are largely derived from four of the other six known examples (chairs III, IIII, V and VIII). One chair, previously in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, lacks a Roman numeral and displays several instances of variation from the others. As there is no chair known numbered I, it is possible that this was the first in the sequence and perhaps made slightly ahead of the others. This chair further differs in its slightly underscale crest shell, splat with variant graining and integral rather than applied seat rims. The final known chair to survive is only known through its publication in 1983, so details of its numbering and construction are unverified.
2. See Sotheby’s, 7 October 2006, lot 318; Christie’s, 22 January 2016, lot 67; Christie’s, 21 January 2022, lot 358.
3. Several in the direct line of ancestry had occupational ties to the furniture industry in Newport that may have occasioned the acquisition of this armchair. These figures include Simeon Hazard (1817-1855), a cabinetmaker, and his grandsons Leroy T. Hazard (1889-1945), an architect involved in early restoration projects in Newport, and George A. Hazard (1875-1918), who worked in the furniture and antique business of his father-in-law, Geroge E. Vernon.
4. Caroline E. Hazard, The Hazard Family of Rhode Island (Boston, 1895), pp. 37-39, 77-78. Christie’s would like to thank Judith S. Pyle, independent researcher, for suggesting this line of descent. A more distant branch of the family included Samuel Hazard (1713-1758), one of the managers of the Philadelphia hospital.
5. John Jay Smith, Recollections of John Jay Smith (Philadelphia, 1892), p. 13.
From its design and wood choice to the hidden areas of its construction, this armchair illustrates the same practices exhibited by other known survivals from the set (figs. 1, 2; see below).[1] Four others are known to have Roman numerals on the interior of the rear rail; taken with the available evidence from numbering on slip-seats, these numbers do not repeat and indicate that the set originally comprised eight chairs. The example offered here is numbered II in thin incisions similar to those with numbers III and VIII at Winterthur Museum, and IIII and V in private collections (fig. 3). The distinctive burl grain of the solid splat, with a knotty darker column set within U-shaped growth rings, is nearly identical to that seen on chair V, and the two splats appear to be near adjacent cross-cuts from the same flitch of wood. Closely related graining seen on the chairs numbered III, IIII and VIII, as well as a chair whose numbering is unknown, suggest that these chairs’ splats were all from the same block of highly figured walnut.
Additional aspects seemingly distinctive to this set of chairs is the use of iron braces to reinforce the junctures of the crests and stiles (fig. 4). These braces were part of the original construction, perhaps added because of the chairs’ exceptional height but possibly also in anticipation of the chairs being used in a communal setting. Furthermore, the chairs have evidence that the seats were screwed to the chair frames, perhaps another indication that the chairs were going to be handled less carefully, or perhaps in a place with less security, than those destined for private parlors. Other details, such as small, circular impressions left by clamps when gluing the applied seat rims, visible on the underside of the front seat rail near the front edge, on chair IIII and the chair offered here further demonstrate the habitual practices of a single shop. Less unusual are the combination of many standard techniques seen in Philadelphia chairmaking in the 1750s. On this set, the extreme curves of the rounded stiles are laminated, the splats are solid rather than veneered, the arms are double-pegged to the stiles and as mentioned above the seat rims are applied rather than integral (aside from one exception noted below).
The lack of common ancestry among the surviving examples further substantiates the likelihood that the set originally furnished a public or semi-public space and was dispersed at an early date rather than descending along family lines. The names associated with the other chairs comprise members of the Thomson, Staats-Lourette, Bacon, Smith, and Biddle families. Previous research has explored the links between the earliest known owner of chair VIII, John Jay Smith (1798-1881), and the history of the Loganian Library, as well as the presence of a set of eight armchairs in the parlor of the first president of the Philadelphia Hospital. Both institutions occupied newly built accommodations that would have needed furnishings around the time these chairs were made.[2]
The discovery of the chair offered here adds another family name associated with the group: the Hazard family. The direct ancestry of the chair’s owner in the late twentieth century appears to have little in common with the Philadelphia families mentioned above.[3] However, an allied branch, that of Thomas Hazard (1720-1798) provides geographic and religious ties to the Bacon and Smith families. A prominent and devout Quaker, Thomas, later known as “College Tom,” travelled widely delivering sermons. He probably visited Burlington, New Jersey where his son Rowland Hazard (1763-1836) later lived for a time.[4] It was also where John Jay Smith, who owned chair VIII in the late nineteenth century, grew up on his family’s large estate, Green Hill, just outside of the city. As penned by Smith, “my parents’ connections with the very best and wealthiest class of Friends rendered their house a resort of the travelling preachers.” Furthermore, at least one of Rowland Hazard’s sons attended the Westtown Boarding School, as did Smith and his siblings who were around the same age.[5] Thus, it is highly likely that some or all of these members of the Hazard and Smith families were in direct contact.
It is also possible that the chair offered here came to Newport via Benjamin Raper Smith (1825-1904). John Jay was particularly close to his first cousin and Benjamin’s father, Daniel B. Smith (1792-1883). Benjamin, who is known to have collected furniture from different branches of his family, inherited the Thomas Robinson house in Newport where he deposited a number of heirlooms from his extended relations. Bearing painted shipping instructions, a high chest in this sale (lot 575) is one example of Benjamin’s removal of eighteenth-century Pennsylvania furniture to his Newport home.
The above connections raise the possibility that the original context for the use of these armchairs was directly or indirectly related to a Quaker setting as later owners appear to have had leadership roles within these communities. John Jay Smith can also be tied to the family of Job Bacon (1735-1801), who probably owned chair IIII in the late eighteenth century. John Jay’s younger brother, Morris (1801-1832), married Caroline M. Smith (1805-1872) whose parents were Robert Smith (1770-1857), the first editor of the Quaker periodical, The Friend, and Mary Bacon (1781-1857). Mary’s father, Job Bacon (1735-1801), probably owned chair IIII in the late eighteenth century.
The other known examples from the set comprise the following:
Unnumbered: History in the Thomson family, by descent to Eleanor (Thomson) Mullen (1902-2001); Philadelphia Museum of Art (1964-212-1, deaccessioned); Christie’s, 22 January 2016, lot 67; Erving and Joy Wolf; Sotheby’s, 19 April 2023, lot 41; private collection. Illustrated here as fig. 2.
Numbered II: the chair in the present lot.
Numbered III: History in the Staats-Latourette family, Bound Brook, New Jersey; Winterthur Museum, acc. no. 59.2501.
Numbered IIII: Probably owned by Job Bacon (1735-1801); descended in the Bacon-Wood-Dunn families; Martin Wunsch; sold Christie’s, 21 January 2022, lot 358; private collection. Illustrated here as fig. 1.
Numbered V: No family history known; sold Sotheby’s, October 7, 2006, lot 318; private collection.
Numbered VIII: Previously owned by John Jay Smith (1798-1881), Philadelphia; Winterthur Museum, acc. no. 59.2500.
[unknown numbering]: Descended in the Biddle family; David Stockwell (illustrated in John Walker, Experts Choice: 1000 Years of the Art Trade (New York, 1983), p. 129); current whereabouts unknown.
1. The evidence for the practices of other chairs from the set are largely derived from four of the other six known examples (chairs III, IIII, V and VIII). One chair, previously in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, lacks a Roman numeral and displays several instances of variation from the others. As there is no chair known numbered I, it is possible that this was the first in the sequence and perhaps made slightly ahead of the others. This chair further differs in its slightly underscale crest shell, splat with variant graining and integral rather than applied seat rims. The final known chair to survive is only known through its publication in 1983, so details of its numbering and construction are unverified.
2. See Sotheby’s, 7 October 2006, lot 318; Christie’s, 22 January 2016, lot 67; Christie’s, 21 January 2022, lot 358.
3. Several in the direct line of ancestry had occupational ties to the furniture industry in Newport that may have occasioned the acquisition of this armchair. These figures include Simeon Hazard (1817-1855), a cabinetmaker, and his grandsons Leroy T. Hazard (1889-1945), an architect involved in early restoration projects in Newport, and George A. Hazard (1875-1918), who worked in the furniture and antique business of his father-in-law, Geroge E. Vernon.
4. Caroline E. Hazard, The Hazard Family of Rhode Island (Boston, 1895), pp. 37-39, 77-78. Christie’s would like to thank Judith S. Pyle, independent researcher, for suggesting this line of descent. A more distant branch of the family included Samuel Hazard (1713-1758), one of the managers of the Philadelphia hospital.
5. John Jay Smith, Recollections of John Jay Smith (Philadelphia, 1892), p. 13.