Figure 8  Upholstered armchair, Boston or Salem, Massachusetts, 1760–1770. Mahogany with maple. H. 35", W. 27 1/4", D. 25 1/4". (Chipstone Foundation; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) With its low back and serpentine crest, this armchair is a Boston version of a “French chair.” In the second edition of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1755), Thomas Chippendale noted that the carving on such chairs “may be lessened by an ingenious workman without detriment.”