A very fine and rare American transitional Chippendale to Federal period mahogany armchair, attributable the workshop of John Shaw (1745-1829), Annapolis, Maryland, circa 1795-1800
The chair is in a remarkable and unusually uncommon state of original preservation and retains the original “slip-seat” and a very fine surface. Though the basic design and form of the armchair presented here is incipiently British in origin, its construction is distinctly that of Annapolis, Maryland, John Shaw’s workshop being the most likely author. In fact, the splat design, poplar slip seats, two-part quarter-round glue blocks, stretcher arrangement, and chamfering of the inside corner of the legs, are all characteristics of Shaw’s work (see figs. 31 and 45 in Elder and Bartlett’s John Shaw, Cabinetmaker of Annapolis).
SOLD