Pair of Queen Anne Balloon-seat Side Chair

Norwich or East Hartford, Connecticut, circa 1740-1770
Cherry, original slip seat frames covered brown cowhide, height 41 inches, seat width 17 ½ inches, seat height 17 inches. Roman numerals “IV” and “V” incised on inside of seat rail

This pair of chairs appear to match the well-known armchair with Pitkin and Lyman family provenance illustrated in John T. Kirk, Connecticut Furniture, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (Hartford, 1967), pl. 188; John T. Kirk, American Chairs: Queen Anne and Chippendale (New York, 1972), pl. 188; Minor Myers, Jr. and Edgar deN. Mayhew, New London County Furniture 1640-1840 (New London, CT, 1974), pl. 29, and advertisement for John S. Walton, The Magazine Antiques, August 1976, p. 204 and March 1984, p. 490.

A nearly identical side chair at Winterthur is discussed in Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur, Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods (Winterthur, 1997), pp. 39-40: “The precise eastern Connecticut origin of straight-backed (canted), spurred splat compass-bottom chairs with champhered rear legs and three turned outside stretchers is yet to be resolved. A strong tradition of furniture making existed in Norwich, the cultural and commercial center of New London County and vicinity. Features of this chair that link it to Norwich seating furniture include the champhered rear legs, three stretcher brace, and angular sweep of the front feet. Gov. John Pitkin (1694-1769), who owned an armchair of this pattern, was a resident of East Hartford, although he had strong political connections and support from New London County, and his deputy governor was a county resident. Several side chairs also have firm East Hartford histories. Because maritime and overland commerce between Norwich and East Hartford was well established and subtle variations within the pattern indicate more than one shop was responsible for production, it is possible that chairs of this description were made in both Norwich and East Hartford”

A small number of other side chairs of this distinct form are known.

Provenance:
Israel Sack, Inc., New York; Collection and Samuel D. McCullough (1930-2025) and Patricia McCullough, Bloomington, MN.

Published:
American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Volume IV (Alexandria, VA, 1974, p. 920.
Jason T. Busch, “Americana in Minnesota,” Antiques & Fine Art, Autumn/Winter 2005, p. 177.