The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 2, 2023

Side Chair

c. 1760

America, New York, 18th century

Mahogany

Overall: 105.4 x 57.2 x 54.3 cm (41 1/2 x 22 1/2 x 21 3/8 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1988.32

Location

204 Colonial American

Description

Chairs with their splats pierced with a decorative monogram are rare in eighteenth-century English furniture, and this chair is part of a unique American set. The initials "R.M.L." are those of Robert (1718-1775) and Margaret Beekman (1724-1800) Livingston of Clemont, a house on the Hudson River north of New York City.

Inscriptions

Inscription

pieced splat with initials of first owners: R M & L; seat cover with initials of second owner: C L G; Roman numeral VI incised on inner surface of rear seat rail.

Provenance
Robert (1718-1775) and Margaret Beekman (1724-1800) Livingston of Clermont; their daughter Catherine Livingston Garreston (1752-1849; her daughter Mary Rutherford Garreston (d. 1879); several generations of the Tillotson Wainwright family.
Exhibition history

The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.32