Chair

Object/Artifact

-

Historic Charleston Foundation

Sidechairs: .002-.004

Sidechairs: .002-.004

Name/Title

Chair

Entry/Object ID

2013.033.001-004

Tags

Needs review, Needs new photography

Description

.001 Armchair .002-.004 Side chairs Arm Chair and Three Side Chairs Probably Charleston, SC 1800/1810 Mahogany with yellow pine and ash These chairs are a part of a set of twelve or more dining chairs, six of which are in the Museum of Early Decorative Art's (MESDA) collection and the remaining examples exhibited within the Nathaniel Russell House Museum. MESDA is offering four examples from their collection to Historic Charleston Foundation with the intention of reuniting the set. Because of the significance of these chairs, MESDA will keep two side chairs for display in their galleries. This set is well documented, and additional information can be found in The Furniture of Charleston. Used in the "Governor's pew" of St. Michael's Church and gifted by the Vanderhorst family, the set is possibly the largest known extant grouping of chairs with a Charleston association. Seating furniture of a similar design was described in the 1802 New-York Price Book as "Square Back" chairs "With gothic arches, and four turned columns…plain taper'd legs." Alicia Hopton Middleton, granddaughter of Nathaniel Russell Middleton, owned a Federal-style chair with gothic arches, and this object is pictured in an interior view of her family plantation, Hey Bonnie Hall in Bristol, Rhode Island (see image). The stylistic similarities between these Charleston chairs and New York examples, such as those also displayed in the Russell House dining room, prevent scholars from determining a clear attribution. However, it is highly likely these chairs were made in Charleston. The four Vanderhorst family chairs would be an excellent addition to the collection and enhance our interpretation of the Russell House dining room, where the six dining chairs on loan from St. Michael's are currently exhibited.

Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation

Acquisition

Accession

2013.033

Source or Donor

Mrs. Johanna Brown, Assistant Curator & Registrar

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Date made

1800 - 1810

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Chair

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Seating Furniture

Nomenclature Class

Furniture

Nomenclature Category

Category 02: Furnishings

Location

Location

Room

303

Building

Nathaniel Russell House

Date

February 7, 2023

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

December 26, 2013

Updated By

mooreks@wofford.edu

Update Date

January 14, 2025