Chair, One from a Set of 10
Decorative Arts and Design
These two chairs, produced about the same time in the Northeast, both take the ancient Greek klismos chair as their design source—as evidenced by the continuous curve of the back and seat and the splayed saber legs—but were made in very different ways. The Phyfe chair, part of a large dining set, is hand carved in expensive, imported mahogany. The Gragg chair (perhaps the earliest patented furniture design in the United States) incorporates parts made by steaming and bending wood, which streamlined the cost and speed of production. Gragg’s chair found some commercial success, but his innovations were not widely embraced by chairmakers or consumers. In the early days of industrialization, invention was not as readily accepted as it is today, when consumers line up to purchase the latest cell phone.
MEDIUM
Mahogany, watered damask
DATES
1816
DIMENSIONS
height of back: 23 1/4 in. (59.1 cm)
height of seat: 17 in. (43.2 cm)
32 1/4 x 18 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (81.9 x 47 x 49.5 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Decorative Arts and Design
ACCESSION NUMBER
67.19.2
CREDIT LINE
H. Randolph Lever Fund
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Duncan Phyfe (American, born Scotland, 1768–1854). Chair, One from a Set of 10, 1816. Mahogany, watered damask, height of back: 23 1/4 in. (59.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 67.19.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 67.19.2_bw_IMLS.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 67.19.2_bw_IMLS.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/28/1984
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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