Name/Title
Side Chair, America, 1920s-1930sEntry/Object ID
2017.22Description
In the 1720s and 1730s, Portsmouth's consumers could turn to local chairmakers to acquire seating furniture. Two centuries later, the same need was fulfilled by factory chairs made elsewhere and sold locally through retail stores. Inexpensive kitchen chairs were important furnishings in middle-class Portsmouth homes, such as those in the are known as Puddle Dock during the mid-twentieth century. This chair was sold by Margeson Brothers, the prominent local furniture store operated for many years by Richman Stanley Margeson (1902–1972) and Ralph Clyde Margeson (1905–1994). They maintained a retail store on Vaughn St. and a warehouse on Albany St. These chairs were often sold en suite with a large oval dining table, all playing a significant role in the everyday life of many consumers.
Side chair with straight tapered front legs, raked rear legs, side stretchers with central medial stretchers, trapezoidal seat with caning, solid vase-shaped splat, straight styles, rectangular solid crest rail with scalloped lower edge, retains fragment of printed paper label on inside of rear seat rail. Sold by Margeson Bros., Portsmouth furniture retailer.
Illustrated in Four Centuries of Furniture in Portsmouth, cat. 46Collection
Portsmouth Historical Society Curatorial CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2017.22Acquisition Method
FICCredit Line
Portsmouth Historical SocietyDimensions
Height
35-1/2 inWidth
16-1/4 inDepth
17-1/8 in
