Erik Gronning
Early New York Turned Chairs: A Stoelendraaier’s Conceit

American Furniture 2001

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with unidentified secondary wood. H. 42", W. 18", D. 13 1/2". (Private collection; photo, Helga Studio.)

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    I. N. Phelps Stokes, Redraft of the Castello Plan of New Amsterdam in 1660, New York, 1916. Color gravure on paper. 14 3/8" x 19 1/4". (Courtesy, J. Clarence Davies Collection, Museum of the City of New York.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Detail of the map illustrated in fig. 2, showing the residences of (a) Lourens Andrieszen van Boskerk, (b) Frederick Arentszen Blom, and (c) David Wessels.

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Side chair, northern Netherlands, 1650-1700. Walnut with unidentified secondary wood. H. 40 1/8", W. 18 1/8", D. 15 3/4". (Courtesy, Rijksmuseum.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Side chair, northern Netherlands, ca. 1700. Rosewood and walnut with unidentified secondary wood. H. 37 1/2", W. 18 1/8", D. 14 3/4". (Courtesy, Rijksmuseum.)

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Armchair, New York, 1660-1720. Maple with unidentified secondary wood. H. 40", W. 23", D. 19". (Courtesy, Morristown National Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior: photo, Gavin Ashworth.) Several of the vertical spindles and stretchers are replaced. 

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Armchair, New York, 1660-1720. Maple, cherry, and ash with unidentified secondary wood. H. 50 3/8", W. 23 1/4", D. 18 3/4". (Courtesy, Albany Institute of History and Art, Rockwell Fund; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This chair reputedly descended in the Hendrickson family of Flatbush. With two tiers of back spindles and unusually complex post turnings, this chair is a superb example of the stoelendraaier's art. One arm and several spindles are replaced.

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Detail of the left arm and front post of the armchair illustrated in fig. 6. (Courtesy, Morristown National Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior: photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Armchair, probably southeast Virginia, 1670-1720. Cherry with unidentified secondary wood. H. 41 3/4", W. 23 1/2", D. 23 1/2". (Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem Museum & Gardens.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Nicolaes Maes, A Young Woman Sewing, 1655. Oil on panel. 21 3/8" x 17 1/2". (Courtesy, Guildhall Art Gallery, Corporation of London.)

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Hendrik van der Burch, The Game of Cards, 1660. Oil on canvas. 30 1/2" x 26 1/2". (Courtesy, Detroit Institute of Arts.)

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Detail showing the kitchen of a doll house, Netherlands, 1674-1682. (Courtesy, Central Museum, Utrecht.)

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Side chairs, Netherlands, 1674-1682. Walnut with unidentified secondary wood. H. 4 1/3"; width and depth not recorded. (Courtesy, Central Museum, Utrecht.)

  • Figure 14b
    Figure 14b

    Detail of the right rear post and spindles of the chair illustrated in fig. 39. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 14a
    Figure 14a

    Detail of the right finial of the chair illustrated in fig. 39. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Walnut with hickory. H. 30 11/16 ", W. 16 1/2", D. 13 3/8". (Courtesy, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery.)

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Ebony with red oak. H. 26", W. 15 1/2", D. 14 1/2". (Courtesy, Winterthur Library: Decorative Arts Photographic Collection.)

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Detail of a photograph of an exhibit at the bicentennial display, Albany, New York, 1886. (Courtesy, McKinney Library, Albany Institute of History and Art.)

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with white oak. H. 32 3/8", W. 17", D. 15 1/2". (Courtesy, New York State Museum, gift of the Wunsch Americana Foundation.) The mate to this chair is illustrated in fig. 43.

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Side chair, New York, 1680-1711. Cherry. H. 37", W. 19", D. 15 1/4". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)  

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

    Detail of the weathervane on the Dutch Reformed Church built in Sleepy Hollow, New York, in 1685. Unidentified metals. (Courtesy, Tarrytown Dutch Reform Church; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This weathervane is a copy based on the original, which still survives in the church. Oral tradition maintains that the weathervane was presented to the church upon its completion.

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Armchair, New York, 1675-1725. Maple with unidentified secondary wood. H. 36 1/4", W. 22 3/8", D. 24". (Courtesy, Brooklyn Museum of Art.)

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Detail of Pieter Cornelis van Slingelandt, Woman Making Lace with Two Children, Netherlands, ca. 1679. Oil on panel. 18 5/8" x 15 1/2". (Courtesy, Guildhall Art Gallery, Corporation of London.)

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Side chair, New York or northern New Jersey, 1730-1790. Maple with unidentified secondary wood. H. 38 3/8", W. 18", D. 16". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 24
    Figure 24

    Side chair, New York or northern New Jersey, 1730-1790. Maple with unidentified secondary wood. H. 36 3/4", W. 19 1/8", D. 16". (Courtesy, Staten Island Historical Society.)

  • Figure 25
    Figure 25

    Side chair, probably Guilford-Saybrook area of Connecticut, 1680-1710. Maple and ash. H. 30 1/2", W. 17 1/4", D. 14". (Courtesy, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery. )

  • Figure 26
    Figure 26

    Armchair, New York, 1670-1720. Maple with unidentified secondary wood. H. 40 3/4", W. 21 3/8", D. 15 5/8". (Courtesy, Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities.)

  • Figure 27
    Figure 27

    Side chair, New York, 1680-1730. Maple with unidentified secondary wood. Dimensions not recorded. (Courtesy, Sotheby's.)

  • Figure 28
    Figure 28

    High chair, New York, 1680-1730. Maple with unidentified secondary wood. H. 35 1/2", W. 14 3/4", D. 13 1/2". (Courtesy, Albany Institute of History and Art; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The chair is branded "RS" on a back leg. The footrest is a modern replacement.

  • Figure 29
    Figure 29

    High chair, New York, 1680-1730. UnidentiWed woods; modern green paint. H. 37", W. 23", D. 12 1/2". (Courtesy, Albany Institute of History and Art; photo, Gavin Ashworth.) The back rails, stretchers, and arms may be replacements.

  • Figure 30
    Figure 30

    Side chair, New York, 1680-1730. Walnut with unidentified secondary wood. Dimensions not recorded. (Courtesy, Issac Royall House Museum.) The seat and seat rails are replaced.

  • Figure 31
    Figure 31

    Dressing table, New York, 1680-1710. Mahogany with tulip poplar. H. 33 3/4", W. 28 1/4", D. 22 3/4". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 32
    Figure 32

    Side chair, New York, 1700-1740. Maple. H. 36 1/2", W. 18 3/4", D. 15". (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 33
    Figure 33

    Side chair, New York, 1695-1730. Maple. H. 44 3/4", W. 19 3/4", D. 16". (Courtesy, Albany Institute of History and Art; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 34
    Figure 34

    Side chair, New York, 1695-1730. Maple. H. 48", W. 18 3/8", D. 13 1/2". (Courtesy, Bergen County Historical Society.)

  • Figure 35
    Figure 35

    Armchair, New York, 1750-1780. Cherry. H. 47 1/2", W. 26", D. 21 1/2". (Courtesy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of the Wunsch Americana Foundation.)

  • Figure 36
    Figure 36

    Detail of the "HH" brand on the side chair illustrated in fig. 38.

  • Figure 37
    Figure 37

    Detail of the "HG" brand on the side chair illustrated in fig. 41. (Photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 38
    Figure 38

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with ash. H. 35 7/8", W. 18 1/2", D. 15". (Courtesy, Bayou Bend Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase with funds from the Houston Junior Woman's Club.)

  • Figure 39
    Figure 39

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with ash. H. 34 7/8", W. 18 1/2", D. 15". (Courtesy, Historic Hudson Valley; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 40
    Figure 40

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Red mulberry. H. 35 1/2", W. 17", D. 14 3/4". (Courtesy, American Museum in Britain.) The finials have lost their pointed tops.

  • Figure 41
    Figure 41

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with unidentified secondary wood. H. 36 1/8", W. 18 3/4", D. 14 1/2". (Courtesy, New Jersey State Museum).

  • Figure 42
    Figure 42

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Unidentified woods. H. 37", W. 18 1/2", Depth not recorded. (Anderson Art Galleries, Francis P. Garvan Collection, January 8-10, 1931, lot 107.)

  • Figure 43
    Figure 43

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with white oak. H. 34 7/8", W. 17 3/4", D. 15 1/4". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.) The mate to this chair is illustrated in fig. 18.

  • Figure 44
    Figure 44

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with unidentified secondary wood. H. 37 3/8", W. 18 1/8", Depth not recorded. (Private collection; photo, Gavin Ashworth.)

  • Figure 45
    Figure 45

    Side chair, New York, 1660-1720. Cherry with white oak. H. 34 3/8", W. 18 3/4", D. 16 1/8". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)