Banister Back Side Chair

Period1730 - 1780

MediumMaple

Dimensions41.75 × 18.5 × 15.5 in. (106 × 47 × 39.4 cm)

ClassificationsSeating Furniture

Credit LineGift of Mrs. William C. Riker

Object number1990.535

DescriptionA banister back side chair consisting of a yoke shaped crest rail and a back of four molded banisters. The rear stiles have baluster turned bases under columnar turnings, and large urn shaped finials. A reel turning in the center of the front stretcher is flanked by two bulbous elements. The stretcher ends with conical shaped terminals. The front legs also have small baluster turnings above and below the front stretcher. They end in ball feet. The side and rear stretchers are simply dowel turned.
Curatorial RemarksMany New York turned chairs from the 1660s on featured large urn shaped finials. This practice continued in the area for most of the eighteenth century and beyond. Bergen County chairmakers in New Jersey were still making late versions of these finials into the third quarter of the nineteenth century. For an example ca. 1850 - 1885 by Cornelius A. Demarest, see accession number 1983.427. Further information on early New York chairs can be found in an article entitled "Early New York Turned Chairs: A Stoelendraaier's Conceit" by Erik Gronning in American Furniture (Milwaukee: Chipstone Foundation, 2001), 89 - 119.

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