Rocking Settee

Period1835 - 1850

MediumWhite pine, hickory, and ash

Dimensions29.25 × 48 × 28 in. (74.3 × 121.9 × 71.1 cm)

ClassificationsSeating Furniture

Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1931

Object number19

DescriptionAn adult rocking settee that has been equipped with a removable retainer to also hold an infant. Twelve bamboo turned spindles support a tablet-style crest rail. Curved armrests supported by three spindles each terminate in wide scrolls. A deep plank seat is rounded on the front edge. The front legs are baluster turned, while the rear legs are more simply taper turned. The rockers are tenoned into the legs. The retainer consists of two turned posts with ball finials and three horizontal turned rungs. The entire settee is painted green and brown with linear scrolls and striping. Stenciled decorations ornament the crest rail.
Curatorial RemarksIn the eighteenth century, an infant's caretaker was required to sit separately from the cradle and rock the infant by hand or with a foot. Rocking chair and cradle are combined in this unusual settee, probably made in New England about 1840. The caretaker can rock in the normal adult rocking motion, while the infant rocks from side to side as it would in a cradle. With the retainer removed, the piece becomes a rocking settee. The patterns of wear on this well-preserved example indicate that it was used most often in the combined form.NotesThe rocking settee was the second piece of furniture given to the Association. It was accessioned on 12 October 1931, twelve days before the organization's new museum in Freehold, Monmouth County, opened to the public.

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