Very Rare Pair of Queen Anne Carved and Figured Walnut Compass-Seat Side Chairs, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Circa 1735

Joe Kindig Jr. and Son, York, Pennsylvania;
William Clarke;
Mary Cook, Pennsylvania;
Sotheby's, New York, Fine Americana, January 28-30, 1994, sale 6482, lot 1057.

Joseph K. Kindig III, The Philadelphia Chair 1685-1785, (York, PA: Historical Society of York County, 1978), no. 65.

These important side chairs represent one of the earliest expressions of Queen Anne seating furniture from eighteenth century Philadelphia. With their turned rear stretcher and a half dovetail joinery securing the front legs they relate directly to the construction of chairs made in Ireland. Three other directly related sets of chairs are known. Two of which have Logan family history associated with them. James Logan was born in Belfast, Ireland. One related pair of chairs is in the collection of Stenton (see Philip D. Zimmerman, "Eighteenth-Century Chairs at Stenton," The Magazine Antiques (May 2003), pp. 122, pl. I and Philip Zimmerman, "The "Boston Chairs" of Mid-Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia," American Furniture 2009, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 2009), p. 153, fig. 16).  The other Logan variant is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (see Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, American Furniture 1650-1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2020), p. 54, no. 16).  The last set with veneered rails was sold at Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana, including Silver, Flags, Folk Art & Furniture, May 23, 2002, lot 294.  Other related chairs lacking veneer are illustrated in Albert Sack, Fine Point of Furniture: Early American, (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc, 1950), p. 25 and an armchair in Albert Sack, New Fine Points: Early American, (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 28.