Images(2)

Side Chair

Date1830-1840

Possibly by Francois Seignouret

OriginAmerica, Louisiana, New Orleans or New York

MediumMahogany and white pine

DimensionsOverall: 32 1/2 × 21 3/4 × 17 3/8in. (82.6 × 55.2 × 44.1cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter Edgar

Object number2022-22,4

DescriptionGondola style side chair; slightly arched crest rail with thicker top edge continuing down stiles to sides of seat rail; tablet of crest rail with lightwood diamond shaped inlay in center of tablet and undercut with gothic arches flanking baluster shaped solid splat; trapezoidal upholstered loose seat fits between side seat rails and over front seat rail; out-curving front and rear legs.Label TextThis form of gondola chair was known to have been sold in the early to mid 19th century in the New Orleans shop of Francois Seignouret. Trained as a tailor in Bordeaux, France, Seignouret arrived in New Orleans in 1808 and set up an upholstery shop. While Seignouret did have local craftsmen (both free and enslaved) making furniture in his shop in styles similar to pieces from New York and France, he also sold imported furnishings and furniture from New York.ProvenanceOriginally a set of 12 chairs purchased by Mrs. W. D. Bellingrath and given to donor's parents, Amelia Moore & Charles Ernest Edgar Jr. in 1932 as a wedding gift.