Image captured from the NEH Myers Conservation Survey by Carey Howlett.

Window Seat

Manufacturer Unknown

ManufacturerAttributed to John and Hugh Finlay (American)

CultureAmerican

Dateca. 1825

MediumWood | Paint | Gilt | Fabric

DimensionsOverall: 19 3/8 x 15 x 50 1/2 in. (49.2 x 38.1 x 128.3 cm)

Credit LineChrysler Museum of Art, Moses Myers House, Norfolk, Virginia. The Historic Houses are the property of the City of Norfolk and are operated by The Chrysler Museum.

Object numberM51.1.19

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, MMH, Drawing Room

DescriptionBaltimore painted bench with a detachable upholstered seat (one of a pair: see M51.1.20). The bench is painted to imitate rosewood and ornamented with stenciled and freehand gilt and painted decoration. The bench is of a form loosely based on Roman prototypes. It has six turned legs, with the three front legs turned with beehives, rings and small ball feet. Flat front stretchers between the front legs are decorated with yellow stringing and gilt leaf motifs. The exposed and decorated side seat rails are T-shaped above their rear legs (a common feature of Baltimore painted furniture. Side seat rails are ornamented at the rear with stenciled gilt anthemions and at the front with double rosettes, all detailed with freehand sepia shading. The upholstered seat frame is designed to overlay the front and rear seat rails. The letter "W" is stamped with a chisel at the center of the top face of front and rear seat rails.

Exhibition HistoryMyers House "Baltimore Painted Furniture 1800-1840," The Baltimore Museum of Art, Md., April 18 - June 4, 1972. Published ReferencesWilliam Voss Elder, III, _Baltimore Painted Furniture 1800-1840_, exh. cat., The Baltimore Museum of Art, Md., 1972, 63, no. 38. **The entry refers to the Moses Myers inventory of 1820, and the two seats are mentioned as "Rupees" which is a misunderstanding - it "rupees" should be "recesses". Ronald Hurst and Jonathan Prown, _Southern Furniture: 1680-1830, The Colonial Williamsburg Collection_ (Williamsburg: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1997), 180.