Side chair (one of a pair)
Langley Boardman
(1774–1833)
1805–11
Object PlacePortsmouth, New Hampshire
Medium/TechniqueMahogany, mahogany veneer, birch veneer, birch, eastern white pine
DimensionsOverall: 92.4 x 50.8 x 45.1 cm (36 3/8 x 20 x 17 3/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Warren Walker, Jr.
Accession number45.885
On View
Not on viewClassificationsFurniture
Collections
These chairs are part of a large set thought to have been a wedding present given, in 1811, to Susan Lord and Judge William Allen Hayes of South Berwick, Maine. Once attributed to the Seymour shop of Boston, these chairs now are believed to be the work of Langley Boardman, the leading cabinetmaker in nearby Portsmouth. The vase-shaped splats (centers of the backs), highlighted with birch veneer, are a stylish and distinctive expression of Boardman's work.
ProvenancePart of a set of ten side and two armchairs made for Gen. John Lord, who gave them to his daughter Susannah for her wedding to Judge William Allen Hayes of Berwick, Maine, on June 2, 1811. They descended in the Hayes family and were purchased by the donors in 1945 (Accession Date December 13, 1945)
