Collections: Decorative Arts: Folding Invalid Chair

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Folding Invalid Chair

• Designer: Cavedra B. Sheldon
• Maker: A.F. Marks Chair Company Limited
• Medium: Iron, walnut, and new caning and upholstery
• Place Made: New York, New York, USA
• Dates: Patented 1876; Made ca. 1876-1895
• Dimensions: Open: 46 3/4 x 27 x 77 1/4 in. (118.7 x 68.6 x 196.2 cm) Height Closed: 19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm)
• Markings: Stenciled in gold: on upper front seat rail, "PAT. FEB. 1-1876"; on lower front seat rail, "MARKS. A.F. CHAIR CO. LIMITED / 816 BROADWAY, NEW YORK".
• Signature: no signature
• Inscriptions: no inscriptions
• Collections: Decorative Arts
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th floor
• Accession Number: 81.34
• Credit Line: H. Randolph Lever Fund
• Image: Overall, 81.34_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Cavedra B. Sheldon. Folding Invalid Chair, Patented 1876; Made ca. 1876-1895. Iron, walnut, and new caning and upholstery, Open: 46 3/4 x 27 x 77 1/4 in. (118.7 x 68.6 x 196.2 cm) Height Closed: 19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, 81.34 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 81.34_bw.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Folding invalid chair, walnut, cane, and iron. Has iron frame, supported on casters painted black and decorated with gold and red lines, and gold, red, and green scrolls. Within the iron frame at the seat, back, and footrest panels are walnut frames with new caning. At the crest of the chair back is a shallow-carved stylized anthemion with incised line decoration. On either side of this are panels of walnut burl veneer and below is a curved, molded crest rail. The back of the chair has been upholstered in new fabric, the arms in new leather. The chair has a ratchet mechanism, which allows it to be folded up completely, opened as a chair, opened further as a lounge chair with foot rest (an iron brace falls to support the foot rest and an iron foot brace rises above the foot rest) and opened still further, when the back is let down to horizontal (also supported by an iron brace) to form a cot. Copy of patent attached to correspondence file. Condition: Generally good. Caning and upholstery are modern. Cushions are lacking. Paint on iron frame is scraped and worn throughout but basically in good condition and stable. Some rust, especially at feet and ratchets, also where paint has flaked. Wear to wood at back of crest rail. Chip missing on back of proper right scroll on crest rail.