Side Chair

Classical motifs drawn from the imagery of ancient Greek and Rome were popular in all types of decorative arts including painted furniture during the early years of the 19th century. The work of Baltimore Fancy furniture manufacturers John and Hugh Finlay drew heavily on designs by contemporary French designers Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, who incorporated archeologically inspired classical motifs such as the eagle surrounded by a laurel wreath (on the center of the tablet back) and the classical rinceau design (the symmetrical scroll along the front stretcher between the legs) into their work.

This side chair is from a set of twelve made by John and Hugh Finlay in 1815 for Richard Ragan, a Hagerstown, Maryland merchant. The chair is similar in form to set designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe for the White House in 1809. John and Hugh Finlay were commissioned to produce those chairs from Latrobe's design and Dolly Madison installed them in the White House drawing room. The design includes a tasseled cushion on its caned seat that has been reproduced for this example.
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