Sofa
Duncan Phyfe
(American (born in Scotland), 1770–1854)
about 1820
Object PlaceNew York, New York
Medium/TechniqueMahogany, cherry, cane, modern upholstery
Dimensions86.36 x 193.7 x 59.1 cm (34 x 76 1/4 x 23 1/4 in.)
Credit LineThe M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts
Accession number39.114
On View
On viewClassificationsFurniture
Collections
The base and S-curved legs of this sofa and the chairs, exhibited nearby, may be traced to the "sella curulis," an ancient Roman folding stool that was a seat of honor for magistrates who presided over the Roman republic. During the Middle Ages, this chair was used by heads of state and church leaders; it reemerged in the mid-eighteenth century in Europe, with the start of Neoclassicism. The so-called curule form carried centuries of associations with the classical world, power, and leadership-all qualities highly valued in the new American republic.
ProvenanceEarly history unknown; purchased, probably at auction, for The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts and given to the Museum in 1939 (Accession Date January 12, 1939)
about 1820
about 1820
about 1700–25
about 1820
about 1755
about 1755
about 1800
about 1760
1812–17
1812–17
1812–17
1812–17