Armchair

The Kentucky Penitentiary in Frankfort, KY, established in 1798, was the first prison west of the Allegheny Mountains. By 1808, prisoners were engaged in trade skills, such as blacksmithing, coopering, tin smithing, and furniture making to offset the cost of incarceration. The earliest examples of the “continuous armchair” style, such as this chair, date to around 1810 and were made in Frankfort through the 1850s. Each chair presents unique features while also reflecting the distinct style of furniture common to the prison workshop, and they follow cultural stylistic trends occurring outside the prison, though they are separate from what is being produced in the larger Frankfort furniture community.

One other piece in the Colonial Williamsburg collection with a connection to the penitentiary is a pier table with a dolomitic limestone (“Kentucky River marble”) top that was likely quarried by the inmates of the same penitentiary (2015-347).
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