Featured Could someone help me to figure out when this chair was made and by whom

I cannot figure out when this chair was made and who made it. It is 32" high and 18 inches wide. Very nice chair but I would like to know more about it. Thank you so much for any help.
Susan

 

Nice chair! Tiger maple with a reddish stain (which I can't ID.) Was this just recently refinished and recaned?

Is that a crack in the lower corner of the top piece?

The stenciling and pin-striping (I'm sure there is another word for that) were popular in the "early American" decorating revival in the last century. Was this a family piece?

 

Thank you so much for the quick answer. You are amazing.

 

Smith Ely "chairmaker" was cited in the following sources (list found in the "Craftsperson" file on Ancestry) -

Antiques, July 1943, p. 40
Stowe-Day Foundation "A Selection of 19th Century American Chairs (1973) p. 21
American Cabinetmakers, Wiliam C. Ketcham Jr. p. 112
American Windsor Chairs, Nancy G. Evans, #692

The file also cites being in partnerships

1825-26 and 1827-28 - Ely and Edwards
1829-1830 - Ely and Nuttman

On his own 1830-1832 at 36 Broad St

And as a merchant in 1834 and again 1844 at 71 Fulton St.

The file also indicates that he was not working after 1844 (possibly because he could not be found in any directory after that time.)

 

Thank you for this information. This site is full of wonderful, helpful people. Love it!

 

Any time, ulilwitch!

 

Yes, there is a crack in the top piece. No this was not refinished and the chair was given to my nephew through family. This chair has been in his household for so many years that he knows his parents had it for years and he lives in the same house his parents lived in. He is 82 years young. He does not remember the chair ever being re-caned but that doesn't mean it wasn't. We do live in NY State.

 

It has certainly been well cared for!

 

Somewhere along the line I ended up with a bunch of painted chair backs missing the bottom part of the chair! I gave them away to someone who told me they were Hitchcock chair backs.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Hitchcock+chair&iax=images&ia=images

I don't know if this applies to all painted chairs, but that's all I know at the moment. Other people will have to weigh in.