Side Chair
Unknown Artist
1740–60
Medium
Walnut, yellow pine
Dimensions
42 x 17 1/4 x 20 1/8 in. (106.7 x 43.8 x 51.1 cm)
Classification
Side Chair
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Cecile L. Mayer, 1962
Accession Number
62.171.21
Art Historical Context
This elegant side chair, crafted in America between 1740 and1760, invites us into the refined domestic world of the colonial era. Made primarily from walnut—a prized hardwood valued for its rich, dark grain and durability—the chair's visible surfaces showcase the wood's natural beauty, while yellow pine the secondary structure, a practical choice for concealed elements due to its strength and availability. Measuring 42 inches high, it embodies the comfortable proportions typical of mid-18th-century seating designed for everyday use in prosperous households. As a testament to anonymous America...