PHILADELPHIA, CIRCA 1810

This early 19th century American plant stand is a superb example of the French inspired taste which was prevalent in Federal America. Crafted in the Louis XVI style with its white paint and gilt decoration of swags and bowknots, this unusual form incorporates the fashion of the time with function. As mentioned on page 109 in Dean A. Fales, Jr's book, American Painted Furniture 1660-1880, as early as 1787 "William Long, a cabinetmaker and carver "late of London," offered "French sophas in the modern taste" and "Cabriole and French Chairs." This lot is also similar in taste to a set of eight chairs that descended in the Snyder family of Milford, Delaware. An example of this group can be found in Winterthur and is illustrated in Charles Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period, 1966, no. 92, p. 143.