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Banister Back Arm Chair
Banister Back Arm Chair
Banister Back Arm Chair

Banister Back Arm Chair

Period1750 - 1800
MediumMaple, and ash
Dimensions45.5 × 25.75 × 24.5 in. (115.6 × 65.4 × 62.2 cm)
ClassificationsSeating Furniture
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Feltus III, 1961
Object number1990.521
DescriptionThis arm chair features a yoke shaped crest rail and a plain rectangular shoe with five flat grooved banisters flanked by a pair of columnar turned stiles ending in tapered button finials. The chair's shaped arms end in vertical circular terminals, and are supported by two columnar turned arms supports which have baluster-shaped terminals where they enter the arms. The lower front posts, which incorporate flattened ball elements, end in small ball feet which are heavily worn. The front pair of stretchers are sausage turned, whereas the side and rear stretchers are plain. The chair retains an early and possibly original rush seat woven in the checkered pattern.
Curatorial RemarksWhen this banister back arm chair first appeared in print in 1948, it was accompanied by the following text, "We do know, however, of a chairmaker named Maps who worked in West Long Branch in the Revolutionary period and earlier, and we show two examples of his work (Fig. 6). The banister-back armchair still has its old rush seat, woven in checker design. Its stiles and front stretchers are well turned, and the shaping of the arms adds comfort as well as grace." The quote comes from an article entitled "Furniture of Monmouth County" by Elizabeth Wyman that appeared in The Magazine Antiques in July 1948. The author and her husband Kurt were local antiques dealers who owned most of the pieces that they illustrated. Over the years since, nearly all slat and banister back chairs produced in central New Jersey have been attributed to Michael Maps of West Long Branch, Monmouth County. And this chair does bear reasonable resemblance to another example that fits into a larger and more consistent group of chairs that are attributed to Maps (see accession number 2017.703). However, many of its details are at variance with that group, including the profile of the banisters, the turnings of the arm supports which lack the consistent conical-shaped terminal, and the articulation of the sausage turnings of the front stretchers which are much heavier than on chairs with Maps attributions. When compared side by side, this chair and 2017.703 are clearly not made by the same craftsman. For further information on Maps and other chairs that are part of the Maps-type group, see accession numbers 1990.611, 1992.529, and 2017.2.1.
Collections
ProvenanceKurt and Elizabeth Wyman, Shark River Hills, Monmouth County; purchased from them by Edward H. Feltus III, Director of the Monmouth County Historical Association from 1948 to 1970.