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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

  • red oak,
  • basswood,
  • and buttonwood

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • red oak,
  • basswood,
  • and buttonwood

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

  • Furniture

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 6: Assemblage

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 11: Repair

  • Books

American Furniture In Pendleton House

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
  • More Exhibition History +

Use & Feedback

Image use

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

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

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

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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