American Folk Child’s Rocking Chair with Make-Do Repairs
1780-1830
31 1/2 x 19 1/2 x 24 inches
wood, bark, nails, wire
An outstanding example of American folk craft with years of repairs and care integrated into the original form. There are two wood and wire make-do repairs where each arm meets the back arch. The back arch also has square nails dating the chair between the late 1700s and 1830 when nails like this stopped being produced. The arms and back arch in the upper frame are comprised of bentwood with whittled branches acting as spindles. The seat is woven from tree bark with the lower portions of the frame housing two branch supports maintaining their organic form.
Provenance: Collection of Margaret Wharton
The chair comes from the collection of Margaret Wharton (1943 - 2014), an important Chicago artist whose work exists in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Whitney Museum of American Art et al. Wharton’s work often included depictions of chairs making the history of this chair very compelling.
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