Side Chair

With their spindle-turned legs and back posts and vase-shaped splats, chairs of this type were probably introduced at about the same time as the compass-seated walnut chairs of about 1730, but were a cheaper alternative. They were more economical to produce because they were turned on a lathe, made of maple, either stained or painted, and bottomed with rush. Shops in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island made chairs with the distinctive bat-shaped legs found on this example.