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Joined armchair

1650–1700
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 708
The most imposing chairs in seventeenth-century New England were the joined-oak armchairs with panel-and-frame backs carved in the same manner as chests. Based on English Renaissance and Mannerist designs, this example, with its solid, vigorous form enlivened by carving, has a commanding presence. Its massive rear posts taper on the front surface toward the crest and foot, resulting in a back that slants to accommodate the human form and in legs that are lightened. The carving, which consists of a double arcade, intersecting lunettes with stylized foliage, and S-scrolls, creates a lively interplay of semicircles, circles, and vertical accents. The square pillars, used instead of turnings to ornament the front posts (part of the vocabulary of Mannerist decoration), are an unusual feature in New England furniture of the period known primarily on this and five related chairs. Several of these chairs have histories associating them with Essex County, Massachusetts.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Joined armchair
  • Date: 1650–1700
  • Geography: Made in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oak
  • Dimensions: 36 1/2 x 23 x 16 3/4 in. (92.7 x 58.4 x 42.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of the American Wing and Sansbury-Mills Funds, Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Goelet Gift, Mrs. Muriel Gluck Gift, in honor of Virginia and Leonard Marx, and The Max H. Gluck Foundation Inc., The Virginia and Leonard Marx Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Eric Martin Wunsch Gifts, 1995
  • Object Number: 1995.98
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Spindle-back armchair, Ash, American
Spindle-back armchair
American
1640–80
Chair-table, Red oak, yellow pine, white cedar, American
Chair-table
American
1650–1700
Masonic Armchair, Painted mahogany, maple; horsehair, linen, upholstery foundation (original), American
Masonic Armchair
American
1775–90
Easy chair, Soft maple, oak, black tupelo, American
Easy chair
American
1715–30
Banister-back chair, Maple, American
Banister-back chair
American
1715–35

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