Description:
Set of Seven Federal Shield-back Side Chairs, possibly Annapolis, Maryland, 1790-1800, with serpentine front rails above square tapering legs with "H" stretchers, old refinish, (repairs),ht. 38, seat ht. 18 in.
Provenance: Family descent from Colonel Nathaniel Ramsey of Maryland, who was an attorney on Washington's staff, a member of the Continental Congress, and was married to the sister of Charles Willson Peale.
Literature: A stylistically similar chair is pictured in pl. 145 on p. 165 of 300 Years of American Seating Furniture: Chairs and Beds from the Mabel Brady Garvan and other Collections at Yale University by Patricia E. Kane, Yale University Art Gallery, 1976.
Estimate $5,000-7,000
1. patch on back of shield (not original)
2. 1 rear leg pieced 2" (not original)
3. 1 patch on shield
4. 2 break on shield, lower part repaired (original)