Illus. 122 and Illus. 123.—Turned Chairs, about 1600.
The finest wainscot chair in this country is shown in Illustration [124]. It belongs to the Essex Institute of Salem, having been given to that society in 1821 by a descendant of the original owner, Sarah Dennis of Ipswich, who possessed two of these chairs; the other is now the President’s chair at Bowdoin College.
Illus. 124.—Wainscot Chair,
about 1600.
A plainer form of the wainscot chair is shown in Illustration [125]. It was brought to Newbury in the ship Hector, in 1633, and is now in the collection of the late Major Ben: Perley Poore, at Indian Hill.
By the middle of the seventeenth century chairs had become more common, and inventories of that period had frequent mention of leather or leather-backed chairs. Some of the earliest leather chairs have the under part of the frame similar to that of the wainscot chair, with plain legs and stretchers, while others have the legs and back posts turned. Illustration [126] shows a leather chair made about 1660, in the Waters collection. The seat and back have been covered with leather in the same manner as they were originally, as enough remained of the old cover to copy.
A chair of some later date, about 1680, is shown in Illustration [127], also from the Waters collection, the back and seat of which were originally of Turkey work. The frame is similar to that in Illustration [126], with the exception of the carved brace across the front, which feature leads one to give the chair a later date than the one in Illustration [126]. The feet have been sawed off.
