Illustration [212] shows a double chair, which is well known from representations of it in various books. It is one of the finest examples existing of the Chippendale period, and was undoubtedly, like the double chair in Illustration [211], made in England. The carving upon the three front legs is unusually good. The feet are carved with lions’ claws, and the knees with grotesque faces, while the arms end in dragons’ heads.
Illus. 212.—Chippendale Double Chair, 1750-1760.
The corners of the back are finished with a scroll, turning to the back. The wood of this double chair is walnut, and it is covered in gray horsehair. This chair formerly belonged to John Hancock, and was presented to the American Antiquarian Society in 1838, with other pieces bought from the Hancock house, by John Chandler, of Petersham, Massachusetts.
The little settee in Illustration [213] is owned by Albert S. Rines, Esq., of Portland, Maine. It was evidently made from the same design as a long settee in the Pendleton collection in Providence, which has the same Chippendale carvings on the back at the centre and ends, and the same effect of the leg being continued up into the frame of the seat. This settee has the middle leg unevenly placed.
Illus. 213.—Chippendale Settee, 1770.
The settee in Illustration [214] is entirely unlike any shown. It is French, of the time of Louis the Sixteenth, and with the six chairs like it, was part of the cargo upon the ship Sally, which sailed from France in 1792, and landed at Wiscasset, Maine, with a load of fine furniture and rich belongings intended to furnish a home of refuge for Marie Antoinette, who did not live to sail upon the Sally. The sideboard in Illustration [75] has the same history and it can be traced directly to the Sally. The settee and chairs came from Bath, Maine, where there are also other chairs from the Sally, which are, however, like the sideboard, English in style.
