Chair
- Date
- 1808
- Classification
- Furniture
- Collection
- Decorative Arts and Design
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 34 1/4 x 20 x 19 1/2 in. (87 x 50.8 x 49.5 cm)
- Credit Line
- Funds given by the Decorative Arts Society in honor of Charles E. Buckley
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 217:1975.1
NOTES
Dramatically curved and boldly colored, these chairs heralded a new style of classicism in American furniture that turned to ancient Greek forms for its models. The chairs are from a large suite of tables and seating furniture by the British-trained architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe for the drawing room of the house he designed for the Philadelphia merchant William Waln. The simplified palette of red, black, and gold provides clarity and contrast for the classical vocabulary of gilded palmettes, lyres, and foliage that adorn the chairs' surfaces. Each crest rail in the set of chairs features a different composition of mythological creatures. Latrobe's innovative design presented a challenge for the furniture maker he commissioned to make the set. Writing to his client, Latrobe complained that the first model "was the ugliest thing I ever saw. To make a chair requires as much taste as to design one."
Provenance
1808 - 1821
William Waln, Philadelphia, PA, USA, commissioned from Benjamin Henry Latrobe [1]
1821 -
John Rozet, Philadelphia, PA, purchased at auction of Waln collection, T. B. Freeman's and Co., Philadelphia, PA; his family, by inheritance [2]
by 1835 -
Henry D. Mandeville (1787-1878), Philadelphia, PA; Natchez, MS; Westwood Plantation, LA, by gift or inheritance [3]
- 1907
Sarah Mandeville (d.1907), Natchez, MS [4]
1907 - 1918
Minnie Lunn (d.1918), Louisville, KY, by bequest from Sarah Mandeville [5]
1918 - 1930s
Fulton and Minn-Ell Mandeville, Louisville, KY, by inheritance from Minnie Lunn [6]
- 1975
Stephen W. Tipton, Louisville, KY [7]
1975 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Stephen W. Tipton [8]
Notes:
This chair is one of a pair (217:1975.1, 217:1975.2). Both share the same provenance.
[1] William Waln commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe to design a home, furniture, and furnishings, including these chairs; the home was completed in 1808. [Lindsey, Jack L. "An early Latrobe furniture commission." "Antiques" 139 (Jan 1991): 208-219].
[2] According to Jack L. Lindsey (see note [1]), John Rozet purchased a large selection of Latrobe pieces from the Waln home when they were sold at auction by T.B. Freeman's and Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in March 1821; the auction was a result of Waln declaring bankruptcy [Lindsey, p. 216, note 22, p. 219].
[3] The chairs descended through the Rozet and Mandeville families (who were related by marriage), although the exact dates of acquisition by individual family members between John Rozet and Henry D. Mandeville are unknown. Henry Mandeville relocated from Philadelphia to Natchez, MS and Westwood Plantation, LA in 1835 [letter from Margaret Dalrymple of Louisiana State University Library to Mary Graham, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 12 April 1978, copy in SLAM document files]. It is believed he already had the Latrobe chairs in his possession at this time.
[4] Henry D. Mandeville's relationship to Sarah Mandeville is unknown.
[5] Sarah Mandeville's will stipulated that most of her estate was to pass to her dear friend, Minnie Lunn [copy of will in SLAM document files].
[6] Letters and documents indicate that Fulton Mandeville was Minnie Lunn's foster brother; he and his wife inherited her household furnishings, including the chairs, upon her death in 1918. They retained the chairs until his death in the 1930s [genealogical documents and Minnie Lunn's will, copies in SLAM document files].
[7] Stephen W. Tipton was an antiques dealer. His source for the chairs and his purchase date is unknown. Correspondence from Tipton indicates that he did not know or deal directly with Fulton Mandeville and he had been unsuccessful in his attempt, on behalf of the Museum, to locate biographical information about Mandeville [SLAM document files].
[8] Minutes of the Acquistions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 18, 1975.
William Waln, Philadelphia, PA, USA, commissioned from Benjamin Henry Latrobe [1]
1821 -
John Rozet, Philadelphia, PA, purchased at auction of Waln collection, T. B. Freeman's and Co., Philadelphia, PA; his family, by inheritance [2]
by 1835 -
Henry D. Mandeville (1787-1878), Philadelphia, PA; Natchez, MS; Westwood Plantation, LA, by gift or inheritance [3]
- 1907
Sarah Mandeville (d.1907), Natchez, MS [4]
1907 - 1918
Minnie Lunn (d.1918), Louisville, KY, by bequest from Sarah Mandeville [5]
1918 - 1930s
Fulton and Minn-Ell Mandeville, Louisville, KY, by inheritance from Minnie Lunn [6]
- 1975
Stephen W. Tipton, Louisville, KY [7]
1975 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Stephen W. Tipton [8]
Notes:
This chair is one of a pair (217:1975.1, 217:1975.2). Both share the same provenance.
[1] William Waln commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe to design a home, furniture, and furnishings, including these chairs; the home was completed in 1808. [Lindsey, Jack L. "An early Latrobe furniture commission." "Antiques" 139 (Jan 1991): 208-219].
[2] According to Jack L. Lindsey (see note [1]), John Rozet purchased a large selection of Latrobe pieces from the Waln home when they were sold at auction by T.B. Freeman's and Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in March 1821; the auction was a result of Waln declaring bankruptcy [Lindsey, p. 216, note 22, p. 219].
[3] The chairs descended through the Rozet and Mandeville families (who were related by marriage), although the exact dates of acquisition by individual family members between John Rozet and Henry D. Mandeville are unknown. Henry Mandeville relocated from Philadelphia to Natchez, MS and Westwood Plantation, LA in 1835 [letter from Margaret Dalrymple of Louisiana State University Library to Mary Graham, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 12 April 1978, copy in SLAM document files]. It is believed he already had the Latrobe chairs in his possession at this time.
[4] Henry D. Mandeville's relationship to Sarah Mandeville is unknown.
[5] Sarah Mandeville's will stipulated that most of her estate was to pass to her dear friend, Minnie Lunn [copy of will in SLAM document files].
[6] Letters and documents indicate that Fulton Mandeville was Minnie Lunn's foster brother; he and his wife inherited her household furnishings, including the chairs, upon her death in 1918. They retained the chairs until his death in the 1930s [genealogical documents and Minnie Lunn's will, copies in SLAM document files].
[7] Stephen W. Tipton was an antiques dealer. His source for the chairs and his purchase date is unknown. Correspondence from Tipton indicates that he did not know or deal directly with Fulton Mandeville and he had been unsuccessful in his attempt, on behalf of the Museum, to locate biographical information about Mandeville [SLAM document files].
[8] Minutes of the Acquistions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 18, 1975.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.