A Pair of Classical Klismos Chairs

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1816
Grain painted on ash by John Philip Fondè


Excerpts from description and research by Alexandra A. Kirtley:

The tablet-shaped crest rail and dramatic curve of the stiles and rear legs are hallmarks of fully developed revival of the ancient Klismos chair. Made primarily of ash, the chairs are grain painted to suggest finely grained maple.

These chairs are a part of a set of ten commissioned by Major David Lenox and his wife, Tracy Lukens Lenox, in 1816 for their house on the banks of the Delaware River in Bristol, Pennsylvania. The chairs were sold by order of the trustees of The Andalusia Foundation to support their acquisitions fund. 

Ash
U1020
Sold