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Classical mahogany sofa

Maker Unknown, American

Collections

American Decorative Arts

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca.1830

Mediummahogany, pine secondary wood, upholstered

Dimensions34 × 81 × 25 1/2 in. (86.4 × 205.7 × 64.8 cm.) mount: 4 × 36 × 108 in. (10.2 × 91.4 × 274.3 cm.)

DescriptionEmpire style sofa with a backswept crest rail of figured mahogany venner flanked by a pair of carved bird-heads extended to the figured mahogany venner arm rests, raised on papyrus form arm supports decorated with die-struck flowers and circles continuing to the simple mahogany veneer apron raised on two front feet in teh form of a conventionalized cornucopia on hiary paw feet and turned rear legs, set on metal casters. The rear, back, seat and arms upholstered in modern machine made tapestry fabric decorated with all over floral wreaths.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Dr. Arthur Bond Cecil and Mrs. Henrietta Smith Cecil

Status

Not on view

Label TextWith its back support flanked on either side by the curved neck of a bird (or serpent), mahogany arm rests, and its front feet in the shape of a cornucopia atop diminutive furry animal paws, this sofa was most likely made in rural upstate New York or New England about 1840. Produced outside a major urban center such as Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, this piece suggests the pervasiveness of late neoclassical style and a widespread desire for luxury goods even in the most rural areas of the country.

Object number91.288.4