William And Mary Maple 'Leather Back' Side Chair

Label

Early Massachusetts colonizers could not fully sustain themselves by exporting cash crops, like grains or tobacco, so they developed other industries. This massproduced maple chair was one of many exported throughout Britain’s North American and Caribbean colonies to support Boston’s economy. The maker of this chair is unknown. Named furniture makers from this periodwere usually white, although some relied upon indentured and enslaved laborers. The label stating “artists once known” speaks to the reality that multiple hands, enslaved and free, could have manufactured this chair. The central portion of the chair’s back was originally leather upholstery. The museum leaves these remnants intact, because preserving them helps us retain knowledge about original materials: their origins, trade, and use.

From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Course History

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Art History 40.01, American Art and Identity, Mary Coffey, Fall 2023

Creative Writing 10.02, Writing and Reading Fiction, Katherine Crouch, Fall 2023

Geography 11.01, Qualitative Methods, Emma Colven, Fall 2023

Geography 2.01, Introduction to Human Geography, Coleen Fox, Fall 2023

Geography 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Fall 2023

English 30.01, African and African American Studies 34.01, Early Black American LIterature, Michael Chaney, Winter 2024

Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Writing 5.07, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

College Course 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Francine A'Ness and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2024

German 1.01, Introductory German, Meryem Deniz, Fall 2024

Philosophy 23.01, Art and Aesthetics, John Kulvicki, Fall 2024

Exhibition History

Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, Israel Sack Gallery and the Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 29, 2023-November 24, 2024.

Publication History

Solis-Cohen, Lita. "Sotheby's New York: The Kindig Collection." Maine Antiques Digest, March 2023, p. 117 (color ill.).

Provenance

Possibly Joe Kindig II (1898-1971), York, Pennsylvania; Joe Kindig III (1923-2021), York, Pennsylvania; Sotheby's, New York, New York, sale N11153 “KINDIG”, lot 423, January 21, 2023; sold to present collection, 2023.

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subjects