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D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201.jpg)
D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201.jpg)
D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201_detail2.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201_detail2.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201_detail1.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201_detail1.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_bw_IMLS.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_bw_IMLS.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_mark_bw.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_mark_bw.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_detail_bw.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_detail_bw.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_mark_bw_IMLS.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_mark_bw_IMLS.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_bw.jpg)

D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.201_bw.jpg)

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Rocking Chair

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
MANUFACTURER D. Dexter's Sons
MEDIUM Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery
  • Place Manufactured: Black River, New York, United States
    • DATES patented May 18, 1880
    DIMENSIONS 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS On blue paper label affixed to underside of front seat rail: "MANUFACTURED BY / D. DEXTER'S SONS, / BLACK RIVER, N.Y. / Patented May 18th, 1880"
    COLLECTIONS Decorative Arts and Design
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1990.201
    CREDIT LINE H. Randolph Lever Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Rocking Chair, Aesthetic Movement style, faux bamboo members of unidentified ebonized wood highlighted with gilt decoration; cast iron, original upholstery. Back stiles rise to rounded finials with raised rectangular panel above crest rail with faux bamboo frame to panel with symmetrical conventionalized gilt stencil decoration. Legs on simple curved sleighs that flare towards front. Front stiles rise and curve in an S shape to mid-pint of back stiles. Rectangular armrests supported by openwork cast metal brackets. Rounded turned stretchers between front legs and between back legs. Seat, back, and armrests of carpet-like upholstery in red, brown, and blues depicting a domed temple with palm trees in background and geometric triangular pattern to lower right corner. Front of seat and armrests with long red fringe. CONDITION: Fine original condition; loss to gimp on top, proper left side and bottom of back; strands of fringe lacking at front corners of both armrests; stains to reverse of back.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
    CAPTION D. Dexter's Sons. Rocking Chair, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.1990.201.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    D. Dexter's Sons. <em>Rocking Chair</em>, patented May 18, 1880. Ebonized wood, gilt decoration, cast iron, original upholstery, 38 x 23 1/2 x 32 in. (96.5 x 59.7 x 81.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 1990.201. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1990.201.jpg)

    TAGS

    furniture
    seating
    D. Dexter's Sons
    Rocking Chair
    chair
    faux
    bamboo
    faux bamboo
    Aesthetic movement
    1880
    Ebony
    ebonized wood
    wood
    gilt
    cast iron
    upholstery
    fringe
    tassle
    rocking
    19th century
    decorative
    ornate
    IMLS
    seat
    new york
    new york furniture
    fringes
    19thC

    TAGS

    furniture
    seating
    D. Dexter's Sons
    Rocking Chair
    chair
    faux
    bamboo
    faux bamboo
    Aesthetic movement
    1880
    Ebony
    ebonized wood
    wood
    gilt
    cast iron
    upholstery
    fringe
    tassle
    rocking
    19th century
    decorative
    ornate
    IMLS
    seat
    new york
    new york furniture
    fringes
    19thC

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