Previous image 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 / 11 Next image

Samuel Gragg

Elastic Armchair
Now On View

Maker

Samuel Gragg (American, 1772-ca. 1855)

Culture

American

Title

Elastic Armchair

Year

1808 (patented)

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

silver maple, beech, hickory, paint, white oak

Geography

Place Made: Boston; Place Made: Massachusetts

Dimensions

85.1 x 51.4 x 63.5 cm (33 1/2 x 20 1/4 x 25 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Marks: Chairmaker's brand on underside of rear seat rail

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of the Wunsch Americana Foundation, Inc.

Object Number

85.024

Type

Articles

Seeing the Peacock Feathers

Exhibition History

18th and 19th-Century American Galleries
Jun 19, 2015
Charles Pendleton House
Jan 02, 2015
Making It In America
Oct 11, 2013 – Feb 09, 2014

Label copy

Elizabeth A. Williams, curator of decorative arts: Based on the ancient Greek klismos form, this chair incorporates bentwood lamination, a technique using steam to shape wood into graceful curves. Patented in 1808, Gragg’s design and construction process benefitted from his experience using this technique to make Windsor chairs, an example of which is on the right. Inspired by the proportions and lightweight construction of the Windsor chair, Gragg fused the classical past with the industrialized future. The chair is adorned with motifs that date to antiquity, such as the painted peacock feathers along the chair back, the acanthus leaves on the seat rail, and the carved hoof feet.

Alicia Valencia, RISD (furniture design) / Brown BA student, 2015: The Elastic chair has an anachronistic energy, with the design and construction appearing far more advanced than the skills and mindset typical of its era. The process by which the chair was made can be read in its form, which makes it a wonderful teaching example. Construction included steaming straight-grained wood, bending the malleable wood in a jig to dry, and merging the pieces together with straight or dovetail joints that vary from each other in size and angle due to the gentle compound curvature of the back. My favorite aspect is the delicate and surprising hoof-like feet. This chair communicates substantial information about its making and offers a great model for designing furniture today.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Samuel Gragg (American, 1772-ca. 1855)
Elastic Armchair, 1808 (patented)
White oak, hickory, soft maple, beech
85.1 x 51.4 x 63.5 cm (33 1/2 x 20 1/4 x 25 inches)
Gift of the Wunsch Americana Foundation, Inc. 85.024

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.