An Important Pair of Classical Carved and Figured Mahogany Harp-Back Klismos Side Chairs, attributed to Duncan Phyfe, New York circa 1815

Chairs marked VI and VIII. Both appear to retain thier original surface.

Mrs. Edward Harkness;
Mrs. Jean Johnson

Secondary wood is ash; one of the brass wires in the back of one chair is loose; wear to feet and corners of seat rails; chair VI missing roundel on proper left style at junction of crest rail; laminated foot facings on feet maybe restored
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This pair of chairs represents the apex of seating furniture design in New York during the Neo-Classical period.  As Albert Sack stated "the symmetry achieved by integrating the asymmetrical harp into a conventional frame is a brilliant achievement."¹

The lyre-back or "harp banister with turned columns" as listed in the 1817 edition of the New York price book in Plate 6 illustration F was one of the most expensive options a cabinetmaker could offer.  Furthermore, these chairs have their harps strung with brass and their front legs carved with paw feet and hair and topped with cross figured mahogany.²

It appears that at least nine other chairs are known; a pair is in the collections of Winterthur Museum, one is in the collections of Bayou Bend museum, one is in the collections the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one is in a private collection, one is in the Kaufman collection, Norfolk, Virginia, one is in the Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Stone collection, and a pair once belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Jennings which were illustrated in the Girl Scouts loan exhibition catalog.³

¹ Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture Early American, (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 63.
² Charles Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, (New York: Viking Press, 1966), pp. 129
³ Montgomery, American Furniture, no. 74, pp. 128-9; David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff, American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection, (Houston, TX: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1998), no. F193, p. 120; MMA (acc. no. 1972.136); Christie's, New York, The Collection of Ronald S. Kane, January 22, 1994, lot 388; Wendy Cooper, Classical Taste in America 1800-1840, (New York: Abbeville Press, 1993), fig 70; Sack, New Fine Points, p. 63; Loan Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early nineteenth Century Furniture and Glass for the Benefit of The National Council of Girl Scouts, Inc., (New York: American Art Galleries, 1929), no. 797.