Braided Rawhide Bottom Chair

Art Historical Context

This delicate rendering of a Braided Rawhide Bottom Chair belongs to the Index of American Design, a Depression-era project that employed artists to document historic American decorative arts for posterity. Created around 1940 by Dorothy Johnson, the drawing captures a sturdy vernacular chair whose woven rawhide seat reflects the practical ingenuity of frontier and ranch furniture traditions, where durable, locally available materials like untanned hide were prized for their strength and flexibility. Johnson’s careful technique combines watercolor, colored pencil, pen and ink, and graphite on paperboard, allowing her to record both the chair’s structural details and the textured pattern of its braided seat with remarkable clarity. The original object, measuring 34 inches high, would have served everyday domestic needs while embodying regional craft practices that blended utility with quiet ornament. Today the drawing preserves not only the appearance of a once-common household object but also the broader story of American design heritage, ensuring that such humble yet culturally significant pieces remain accessible for study and appreciation.