Wainscot chair
Wainscot chair, red oak
approx dimensions H: 45” W: (across front) 25 3/4” D: 17 1/2”
detail, carved panel
This is my fourth version of this iconic wainscot chair. It’s based on two nearly-identical period examples attributed to Thomas Dennis of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Those chairs are at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts and the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine. Mine follows the scale and most of the details of the period chairs. I changed the panel and slightly altered the strapwork carving on the top rail.
Over the years, I’ve made about 30 wainscot chairs - the large, carved chairs made by joiners in the 17th century. But unless someone orders a wainscot chair, I don’t think I’ll be making another one. And this one - what I think of as my last one - is the best I ever made. I made it in 2020, initially as preparation for a conference - that got cancelled due to the pandemic. So I stayed home that year and among my projects was this chair. It came into the house for a while, but got bumped out due to over-crowding in our small house. I’ve hung onto it for the intervening years, but now it’s time to let it go.
Price is $8,000 plus shipping. Someone nearby, I can deliver it/you can pick it up. Email me if you’re interested or have questions
