Minneapolis Institute of Art

Rod-back Windsor side chair

attributed to William Sawyer

Date

c. 1807

Medium

Maple

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This is an especially elegant example of a Windsor chair, with its spindled back and contoured seat. Makers of everyday American furniture of the 19th century concentrated on simplicity and functionality, using available woods. These pieces are noted for turned legs and other elements that were joined to each other with round tenons pushed into drilled holes. William Sawyer of Charlestown, Massachusetts, the owner and likely maker of this chair as part of a set commemorating his marriage in 1807, constructed a back of carved spindles that fan outward, crested with a decorative top rail. United States, Americas

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