Fine and Rare Chippendale Mahogany Double-Peak Camel Back Sofa, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Circa 1770

Joseph Kindig Antiques, York, Pennsylvania, November 1979.

Boldly proportioned and measuring eight feet long, this handsome sofa bears the elaborate and rare detail of pointed peaks breaking the serpentine curve of the back on either side of the central hump. It otherwise follows the classic Rococo style design with its boldly arched crest rail, steeply pitched outward-scrolling arms, and Marlborough legs that became fashionable in Philadelphia about 1765.

It is one of few Philadelphia sofas with a peaked camel back that are extant. One is in the collection of Winterthur Museum and illustrated in Joseph Downs, American Furniture, New York, 1952, no. 272. One with a serpentine front rail carved with a fretwork design owned by the Chew family at Cliveden is illustrated in William M. Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, Philadelphia, 1935, pl. 258. Another also with a serpentine front seat rail and a history in the Morris family of Philadelphia is pictured in American Furniture, 1620 to the present by Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bates (New York, 1981, p. 159). An additional example with a serpentine front rail is illustrated as a masterpiece in The New Fine Points of Furniture by Albert Sack (New York, 1993, p. 249). Two other examples have sold in these rooms. One once belonging to the The Williams-Emlen Family (Sotheby's, New York, Property from the Collection of Dr. Larry McCallister, September 22, 2022, lot 37) and the other Sotheby's, New York, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith, January 21, 2017, sale 9608, lot 6027.