ROBERT WALKER (ATTRIBUTED) FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA CARVED CHIPPENDALE MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIR, a fine and rare example, the shaped crest with heavily scrolled ears over a complex carved splat mortised directly into the solid arched rear rail and featuring three vertical piercing interlaced with a beaded ribbon over a pierced heart, above a trapezoidal beaded-edge seat frame and raised on slightly cabriole legs carved with shells on the knees and graduated husks underneath, terminating in compressed ball-and-claw feet, rounded rear legs ending in square feet. Early oak and pine slip-seat frame. Old refinished surface with deep, rich color. Attributed to the shop of Robert Walker (Fredericksburg, VA, c. 1710-1777). Circa 1745-1760. 38 1/2" H, 15 1/2 x 21 1/4" seat.

Provenance: Property of a private Maryland collector.

Catalogue Note: Robert Walker (Fredericksburg, VA, c.1710-1777) operated a cabinet shop in Fredericksburg and worked in a partnership with his brother William Walker (?-1750), with whom he likely immigrated from Scotland in the 1730's. William, and Robert were trained in a Scottish system that prepared them as both builders and cabinetmakers, and evidence suggests that the Walker brothers collaborated on a number of significant building projects in Colonial Virginia, likely including Stratford Hall, the iconic Lee family home overlooking the Potomac River in Westmoreland Co., VA. These commissions would have called for complex architectural ornamentation to the house interior as well as similarly executed furniture and accessories that only master craftsman would be capable of producing. The Walkers were such craftsman and continued to receive important commissions in the 1740's, culminating in William Walker's contract in 1749 to redesign and rebuild the capitol building in Williamsburg, which had burned recently. When William died a year later in 1750, Robert helped to officiate the dispersal of his brother's estate and then continued on in his own business ventures. For the next 27 years, Robert Walker operated a highly successful cabinet shop that catered to significant Virginia families such as the Washingtons and produced some truly significant pieces of early American craftsmanship. The fairly substantial group of pieces that has been attributed to Robert and William Walker was initially associated with the shop of Peter Scott in Williamsburg, VA, but has been clearly identified through the scholarship of Robert A. Leath as, in fact, the work of the Walkers in Fredericksburg, VA. The present side chair is a fine example of the early work of Robert Walker, and its appearance on the market represents a unique opportunity to a acquire an important piece of seating furniture created by a premier Colonial Virginia craftsman.

Expected wear to surface and to carved feet. Chair likely disassembled and later reassembled with blocking removed, corner brackets replaced, and rails re-pinned. Top of left leg at interior corner where rails meet with pieced repair not visible when seat is in place. Knee returns likely replaced, and one detached but present. Minor crack to lower section of splat.