Side chair

In the Federal period, illustrated pattern books and price books began to play an increasingly significant role as design sources for American cabinetmakers. George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton are perhaps the most familiar names today among those who were published, but many others were present in the libraries of major cabinet shops of their era. The painted oval-back chair is modeled after a pattern in the 1788 and 1789 editions of Hepplewhite's Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide; the design was omitted from the "improved" third edition of 1794, presumably because it was outdated. Hepplewhite asserted that "a new and very elegant fashion has arisen . . . , of finishing [chairs] with painted or japanned work, which gives a rich and splendid appearance to the minuter parts of the ornaments, which are generally thrown in by the painter." Made for the Derby family of Salem, Massachusetts, this chair and numerous related examples have been attributed to either Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or Salem; their origin remains unclear to this day.This text was adapted from Ward, et al., MFA Highlights: American Decorative Arts & Sculpture (Boston, 2006) available at www.mfashop.com/mfa-publications.html.

This painted chair and the one exhibited nearby are believed to be part of a set originally owned by Salem merchant Elias Hasket Derby, who gave them to his daughter Elizabeth Derby West, for Oak Hill (three rooms from the house are on this level). Painted either brown or white, the chairs were richly embellished with floral bouquets or peacock feathers.