Side Chair Maker: Walter Corey (American, active ca. 1836–75)

ca. 1850

American Decorative Arts

On view, 1st floor, American Decorative Arts before 1900

The fashion for graining furniture to imitate rosewood arose in the 1820s. This chair, which was made in an era when the American furniture-making trades were radically changing, was the product of the prolific chair factory that Walter Corey established in Portland, Maine, in 1836. Corey eventually built his business into a large furniture factory, six stories high, with machinery run by a sixty-horse-power engine, and employed more than one hundred men.

Medium

Hard maple

Dimensions

33 1/2 × 14 3/4 × 17 3/8 in. (85.1 × 37.5 × 44.1 cm)
seat: 17 1/4 × 18 1/4 in. (43.8 × 46.3 cm)
other (Overall): 18 1/2 × 20 5/8 in. (47 × 52.4 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Montgomery

Accession Number

1970.70

Geography

Made in Portland, Maine

Culture

American

Period

19th century

Classification

Furniture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Found in Falmouth Foreside, Maine; Dean A. Fales, Jr., Kennebunkport, Maine; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Montgomery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Patricia E. Kane, 300 Years of American Seating Furniture Chairs and Beds from the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1976), 188-189, no. 168, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

side chairs

Marks

"W. COREY. PORTLAND, ME." is stenciled on the rear seat rail.

Technical metadata and APIs

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