Slip seat

  • Category:

    Textiles (Furnishing)

  • Creator (Role):

    Katharine Almy (Probable maker)

  • Place of Origin:

    Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America

  • Secondary Place of Origin:

    Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America

  • Date:

    1791-1792

  • Materials:

    Wood; Linen; Wool; Silk; Cotton

  • Techniques:

    Woven (plain) , Canvaswork, Embroidered

  • Museum Object Number:

    1969.5643


  • Complete Details



Object Number

1969.5643

Object Name

Slip seat

Category

Textiles (Furnishing)

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

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.

Place of Origin

Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America

Origin Notes

Slip seat frame.

Secondary Place of Origin

Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, North America

Secondary Origin Notes

Slip seat cover.

Date

1791-1792

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

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)

Materials

Wood; Linen; Wool; Silk; Cotton

Techniques

Woven (plain) , Canvaswork, Embroidered

Construction Description

Hand-embroidered

Dimensions (inches)

16.75 (L) , 21 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

42.545 (L) , 53.34 (W)

Measurement Notes

Measurements overall.

Object Description

Text available soon.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[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