The entire chair is beautifully carved.
The arm-chair shown in Illustration [182] has stood since 1835 in front of the pulpit in the Unitarian church in Leicester, Massachusetts, but of its history nothing is known for the years before that date, when it was probably given to the new church, then just starting with its young pastor, Rev. Samuel May. This chair, like the one in Illustration [181], which it resembles, has characteristics of different styles. It is probable that both Hepplewhite and Sheraton had practised their trade some years, and had made much furniture before their books were published in 1789 and 1791, and had adopted and adapted many ideas from the cabinet-makers and designers of the day, as well as from each other.
The chair in Illustration [183] was used by Washington in the house occupied as the Presidential mansion in Philadelphia. It is now owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. This chair has the same guilloche carving as the chair in Illustration [181], extending entirely around the back. The legs are short and the chair low and wide, and this with the stuffed back indicates that the chair is French.
Illus. 183.—French Chair, 1790.——Illus. 184.—Hepplewhite Chair, 1790.
The chair in Illustration [184] is also in the rooms of the Historical Society, and is one of the set owned by Washington. The urn and festoons in the back show a marked Adam influence, but the three feathers above the urn are Hepplewhite’s.
Illus. 185.—Arm Chair, 1785.