The Butler Family Chippendale Armchair

Mid-Atlantic Region, possibly Virginia

Mahogany, original slip seat

Condition: Untouched original condition, minor abrasions on front legs.

Early, if not original, varnish finish

The chair has a shaped crest rail above a pierced splat flanked by stiles supporting finely carved, serpentine-form arms with carved knuckles. The trapezoid seat frame is supported by straight Chippendale legs with molded edges and a stretcher base.

Provenance: Descended through the family of Benjamin Franklin Butler (1795-1858), the 12th United States Attorney General, of Stuyvesant Falls, NY. Butler was a law partner of Martin Van Buren before his political career began.