356. An American Gothic Carved Oak Hall Chair, mid-19th c., attributed to the “Stanton Hall Master”, probably New Orleans, blind-tracery stiles with crocketed finials flanking tall arched back with carved and pierced tracery, trapezoidal upholstered seat, blind-tracery front seat rail and square tapering legs. $4000/6000 Note: The chair offered in the current lot is related to a number of very similar hall chairs that are part of a large group of distinctive Gothic Revival furniture-including hallstands, sofas and a chaise longue--attributed to an unidentified craftsman described as the “Stanton Hall Master.” The most thoroughly documented examples of this furniture are a pair of hall chairs and a hallstand made for Stanton Hall, a grand town house built in 1857-1859 for Frederick Stanton in 356 Natchez, Mississippi. In 1859, Henry Siebrecht, a household furnishings merchant based in New Orleans, billed Stanton for curtains, carpets and trimming as well as for bedchamber furniture, card tables and chairs. While the invoice does not reference hall furniture, it is believed that Siebrecht supplied the hall chairs and hallstand. It is not known if Siebrecht made the furniture or merely retailed it. On August 30, 1986, Neal Auction Company conducted an on-site sale of the contents of the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Among the highlights of the auction were four American Gothic Revival oak hall chairs, two matching sofas and a hallstand. These pieces are believed to have been among the furnishings purchased by James Reese Cook in 1845 when he remodeled and enlarged his residence at Hard Times Plantation near Vicksburg, Mississippi. The gift of this group of hall furniture to the Sisters of Mercy Convent is documented by a paper label attached to the back of the hallstand. Two hall chairs by the same “Stanton Hall Master” sold in these salesrooms on May 28, 1988. On April 5, 2003, Neal Auction Company offered another pair of chairs and a sofa. A single chair in the pattern sold in these salesrooms on September 15, 2012. One of the hall chairs offered in 1986 at Neal Auction Company’s on-site sale is now part of the collection of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia; another is in the Bybee Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art. Related pieces of furniture
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include a chaise longue in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a hall chair at the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware. The oak hall chair offered in the current sale is most likely by the same furniture maker who produced the hall chairs for James Reese Cook and Frederick Stanton. All the chairs have the same ogee-arch crest rail, carved and pierced tracery in the back, and pinnacle-shaped finials surmounting the stiles. The chair in the current lot deviates slightly from the other examples in terms of the shorter pinnacle-form finials, the absence of cusping under the seat rails, and the use of blind as opposed to pierced tracery. References: “Antiques and the Arts Weekly,” October 3, 1986, p. 42; Howe, Katherine S. and David B. Warren, “The Gothic Revival Style in America, 1830-1870” (Houston, 1976), pp. 29 and 59; Venable, Charles L. American Furniture in the Bybee Collection (Dallas, 1989), pp. 152-153; Pierce, Donald C. Art and Enterprise, 1825-1917 (Atlanta, 1999), pp. 66-67; Davidson, Marshall and Elizabeth Stillinger, The American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985), p. 175.
357. An American Gothic Carved Oak Hall Chair, mid-19th c., attributed to the “Stanton Hall Master”, probably New Orleans, found en suite with preceding lot. $4000/6000
W denotes the lot is illustrated at www.nealauction.com
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