southern writing arm windsor

​Southern, possibly Virginia
Hickory, poplar and possibly maple
Circa 1790
H: 36”, W: (including arm) 37”; D: 16”
Original condition
 
A southern chair from the same shop is pictured in Charles Santore’s  The Windsor Style in America, p. 176. This chair is also almost identical to those produced from the shop of James Beck in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Beck was in partnership with Alexander Walker until 1805 when he commenced his own enterprise. He advertised in the Fredericksburg paper, The Virginia Herald primarily as a Windsor chair and settee maker. Two Beck chairs dating to about 1805 are in the MESDA database, one is a bowback form (file # S-6066) and the second is a writing arm Windsor (file # S-28396). This chair dates approximately 10-15 years earlier, but the templates and traditions used to craft these three chairs are related.