Art Institute of Chicago

Side Chair

Artist unknown (American, 18th century)

Date

1742–90

Medium

Mahogany, white oak, white pine, and beech

Culture

New York

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This chair is from a set made to commemorate either the marriage of Judge Robert Livingston and his wife Margaret, in 1742, or that of their son Robert and his wife Mary, in 1770. The “RML” cipher-pierced back splat is unique in American chair design of this period. The contrast of the high-style Chippendale design with the crude craftsmanship of the carvings suggests that the chair was worked on by several hands or that it was made by a country craftsman unfamiliar with practices of the more sophisticated port cities. The powerful Livingston family controlled a large estate near Albany as well as land in New York City.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.