Side Chair
- Date
- ca. 1800
- Medium
- Painted black ash (stiles and front legs); cherry (back rails, seat rails, and medial braces); white pine (corner blocks); modern upholstery
- Dimensions
- 34.9 x 14.1 x 16.9 in. (88.7 x 35.7 x 42.9 cm) · max. W 18.7 in. (47.6 cm)
- Form
- Chair
- Origin
- New York
- Museum
- Yale University Art Gallery
- Accession
- 1930.2724
- Credit line
- Mabel Brady Garvan Collection
Flat surface decoration, whether through veneers or fancy painting, was a key ornamental element of Neoclassical furniture. Some of the most stylish furniture was painted, as seen in this excellent example. The vocabulary of Neoclassical ornament includes the fluted urn with swags at the center of the back and the bellflowers trailing down the front legs and the stiles.