Side chair (one of a pair)
Unknown Artist
ca. 1755–60
Medium
Mahogany; tent stitch embroidery on canvas
Dimensions
Overall: 39 × 23 3/4 × 18 in. (99.1 × 60.3 × 45.7 cm)
Classification
Woodwork-Furniture
Culture
British
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.981
Art Historical Context
This elegant side chair, one of a matching pair crafted around 1755–60 in, exemplifies the refined taste of mid-18th-century domestic interiors. Fashioned from rich mahogany—a tropical hardwood imported from the Americas and prized for its durability and lustrous grain—the chair's graceful proportions (39 × 23¾ × 18 inches) made it ideal for drawing rooms or parlors, where it would have flanked tables or fireplaces in fashionable homes. The chair's upholstery features tent stitch embroidery on canvas, popular needlework technique that created durable, textured patterns often depicting floral ...