By Vernon Creekmore | Broad Rock House Antiques
The chair is made of River Birch (somewhat unusual as a primary wood) as early as 1770. Related are four Perquimans side chairs, three of them with histories of descent in the Skinner family of the Hertford area, possibly made in the same shop as three ‘low-bucked’ armchairs.
Details that seven of these chairs share are the unusually heavy chamfering inside the legs, the spatial arrangement of the stretchers, and the shaping of their plain splat shoes. Two of the side chairs have shaping added to the center of the crest, while the other two have plain yoke crests.
One exhibits the very unusual feature of having the front stretcher set just behind the front legs in something of a modified H plan; this chair is of mahogany. All but one have quarter-round moldings struck on the top edges of the stretchers; the back stretchers are molded on both top and bottom edges. All of the Perquimans corner chairs with Marlborough legs also have molded stretchers, although the quarter round only occurs on the top edges.
We hope to have one or more on display Jan. 23 thru Jan. 26 at the New Bern Antique Show. Hope to see you there!
