Textiles (Furnishing)
Katharine Almy (Probable maker)
Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America
Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America
1791-1792
Wood; Linen; Wool; Silk; Cotton
Woven (plain) , Canvaswork, Embroidered
1969.5643
Object Number1969.5643 |
Slip seat
Textiles (Furnishing)
Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont
Katharine Almy (Probable maker)
1770-1863
Katharine Almy Ellery (1770-1863), the first owner of side chairs 1959.0083.001-.002, was the great great grandaughter of Walter Clarke (c 1638-1714), a governor of Rhode Island. In 1792, she married Edmund Trowbridge Ellery (1763-1847), who was the son of William Ellery, a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Prior to her marriage, Katharine was promised, as dowry, a set of at least six chairs made of sabicu wood from her brother James Gould Almy's (b. 1772) West Indies plantation. It is very likely that Katharine worked a set of canvaswork seat covers, two of which are in Winterthur's collection, as a young girl (1780s) before the chairs were even made. The inscription "Amy" is written in black ink in an 18th-century hand on the seat frames of both chairs. This phonetic spelling indicated a possible local pronunciation of the Almy family name.
Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America
Slip seat frame.
Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America
Slip seat cover.
1791-1792
1. Label; reverse, pinned on tag ; "59.83.1 / CHIPPENDALE / B/RM / SEPT-MAR" (graphite)
2. Inscription; reverse, on frame; "IIII" (chiseled on frame)
3. Inscription; reverse, on frame; "Amy" (ink)
4. Label; reverse, pinned on tag; "1969.5643 / slip seat" [over] "1959.0083.001 / chair" (graphite)
Wood; Linen; Wool; Silk; Cotton
Woven (plain) , Canvaswork, Embroidered
Hand-embroidered
16.75 (L) , 21 (W)
42.545 (L) , 53.34 (W)
Measurements overall.
Text available soon.
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1977 Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850.
• Published: p. 93, pl. 13
[Book] Swan, Susan Burrows. 1995 Plain and Fancy: American Women and their Needlework, 1650-1850.
• Published: p. 96, pl. 12
[Article] Evans, Nancy Goyne. 01//1994 A pair of distinctive chairs from Newport, Rhode Island. Antiques. 145 (No. 1)
• Published: p. 186, pl. I
[Article] Evans, Nancy Goyne. 01//1994 A pair of distinctive chairs from Newport, Rhode Island. Antiques. 145 (No. 1)
• Published: p. 192, pl. VII