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William B. Savage

Spinning Wheel Armchair
Now On View

Description

Maker

Attributed to William B. Savage (American, active, 1880-1890)

Culture

American

Title

Spinning Wheel Armchair

Year

ca. 1886

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

white pine, red oak, ash (wood), silver maple, butternut, linden

Geography

Place Made: Boston; Place Made: Massachusetts

Dimensions

99.1 x 48.3 x 48.3 cm (39 x 19 x 19 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift in memory of Nathalie Lorillard Bailey Morris by Elizabeth Morris Smith

Object Number

78.157

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

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

Reusing every part of a spinning wheel, this chair exemplifies 19th-century interests in the impact of industrialization and colonial-era aesthetics. By recycling a device rendered obsolete with the rise of the American textile industry, furniture makers such as William Savage paid homage to the nation’s past, creating new functionality from the remnants of a bygone era. These chairs soon became symbols of a romanticized interpretation of domesticity, and were advertised and purchased as wedding or birthday presents.

After Eden
The Rise and Reform of American Art, 1840-1910
Apr 26, 1996 – Dec 29, 1996
Conservation By Design
Oct 29, 1993 – Jan 16, 1994

Use & Feedback

Image use

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

Tombstone

Attributed to William B. Savage (American, active, 1880-1890)
Spinning Wheel Armchair, ca. 1886
Red oak, basswood, and buttonwood
99.1 x 48.3 x 48.3 cm (39 x 19 x 19 inches)
Gift in memory of Nathalie Lorillard Bailey Morris by Elizabeth Morris Smith 78.157

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