VERY FINE AND RARE WILLIAM AND MARY CARVED AND BLACK-PAINTED BANISTER-BACK ARMCHAIR, CONNECTICUT OR RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1735

Israel Sack, Inc., New York;

Private collection;

Leigh Keno American Antiques, New York.

American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. II (Alexandria, Virginia: Highland House Publisher, Inc., 1981), p. 429, no. 1069.

This majestic armchair is associated with one of very few banister armchairs, of the “Heart-and-Crown” coastal New England tradition, with incised decoration on its crest rail. The arched lower back rails, side stretchers with differing turnings and molded straight banisters are characteristics found on a few surviving chairs attributed to the Milford and Stratford area. The number and quality of the various turning sequences demonstrates the exceptional skill of a master turner. Further, the presence of four turned feet suggests the turner was influence by continental chairmaking tradition which commonly make turned chairs with four turned feet. A tangentially related armchair from Norwich, Connecticut with a crest decorated with incised carving was sold at Butterfields & Butterfields, November 4, 1997, lot 5554. The paired demilune crest motif could also signify a Rhode Island design influence and place of manufacture.