An American Mahogany Corner Chair, c.1780

a mahogany "close stool" or "necessary" corner chair; the inner rail nailing foundations of the splat shoes test microscopically as white pine; while possibly of New England origin, the George III inspired splat design, dovetailing of the crest rail into the arm rail, double pegged leg and apron joints, and the lack of rabbet ledges for the slip seat are all seen in Petersburg, Va.and Charleston, N.C. chairs of this form (see The Furniture of Charleston, 1680-1820, Vol. I, p.362); the existing tulip poplar slip seat is old but not original; the two applied quarter rounds, presently forming seat rabbets, are also later; there is a front corner "guide hole", now redundant, which was used to hold the originally larger slip seat in place; while the use of imported mahogany certainly indicates a city-made piece, the lack of leg and arm turnings is more readily expected out of Petersburg than more cosmopolitan Charleston (see Burton's Charleston Furntiure, 1700-1825, p.127, figs.122 & 124); while the use of white pine as a secondary wood was rare in the south, it did occur (see a Chowan Basin example in The Furniture of Charleston, 1680-1820, Vol. II, p177, fig.5.102); a related chair can be seen in Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia, 1710-1790, p.40, fig. 33; a Virginia chair with a closely related splat design sold at Pook & Pook in June 2000 (lot 469); in excellent structural condition with some surface patching to old, now stable, foot wear; dimensions: 17" seat height x 25 1/2" diagonal width x 30 1/2" tall @ crest rail (scroll down for detail)

$3,600