Armchair
Edenton, North Carolina, 1745-1765
Mahogany with cherry and yellow pine
Catalog no. 11

Like the Welsh-style hearth chair to the left, this coastal North Carolina chair is unusual by American design standards. Its distinctive splat pattern is unknown on other American chairs, and its square-section cabriole rear legs diverge from colonial norms. Even the carved upper surfaces of the arms, now considerably worn, are found on only a small number of early American chairs.

The chair is an example of the South's strong cultural ties to Great Britain since chairs of the same form were produced in several British shops. The pattern likely came to America in one of two ways: a local artisan copied an imported chair, or an immigrant British cabinetmaker constructed it. Both practices were common in the coastal South and indicate ways in which the dominance of British taste was regularly reinforced in the region.