Jeffrey S. Evans & Assoc., Inc.
Live Auction

June 28, 2025: Premier Americana: Day Three

Sat, Jun 28, 2025 09:00AM EDT
  2025-06-28 09:00:00 2025-06-28 09:00:00 America/New_York Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates : June 28, 2025: Premier Americana: Day Three https://live.jeffreysevans.com/auctions/jeffrey-evans/june-28-2025-premier-americana-day-three-19283
Jeffrey S. Evans & Assoc., Inc. info@jeffreysevans.com
  • Shenandoah Valley
Lot 2300

RARE MARKED "A. SHIELDS" LEXINGTON, SHENANDOAH VALLEY OF VIRGINIA PAINTED BOWBACK WINDSOR SIDE CHAIR

Estimate: $300 - $500
Current Bid
$150

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$3,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$30,000 $2,500
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

RARE MARKED "A. SHIELDS" LEXINGTON, SHENANDOAH VALLEY OF VIRGINIA PAINTED BOWBACK WINDSOR SIDE CHAIR, white oak and poplar, featuring vernacular bamboo-style turnings, a nine-spindle back over a shaped saddle seat, the whole raised on splayed turned legs connected by a simple turned H-stretcher. The underside of the seat bears a carved inscription of "A. SHIELDS" with "No. 75" lightly written above it in a dark ink. Retains an early green-painted surface over an earlier red (possibly a primer). First quarter 19th century. 33 1/2" HOA, 16 1/2" x 15 1/2" OA seat, 17 3/4" H seat.
Literature: For information on Shields and photographs of another of the tavern chairs by the same hand as the present example, see: Crawford / Lyle - Rockbridge County Artists & Artisans, pp. 13, 124-125. 
Catalogue Note: At least one or two other known Windsor chairs of extremely similar form also bear the mark of "A. SHIELDS" on the underside. Alexander Shields (Lexington, VA, 1760-1832) operated the Eagle Tavern in Lexington, VA. In 1832, he wills "all of the furniture in the tavern of every description belonging to me" to his daughter, Mary, also leaving her use of the carriage house on the tavern lot, but giving the tavern itself to his son, John. His personal probate inventory lists six "green chairs" which may very well be of this same type. The "No. 75" on the bottom is intriguing, and it's quite possible that this was the 75th chair in the tavern with the assumption that many were probably damaged, replaced, and stolen through the years of operation.
Royster Lyle mentions on p. 13 of Rockbridge County Artists & Artisans that they found two chairs marked "A. Shields" on the bottom, it's assumed that this is probably one of the two as the one pictured on p. 125 shows slight differences in the stretchers and legs.

Condition

Good as-found condition, the back legs with loss in height, the mortise between the back and the seat broken and repaired on one side, the other side having a period nailed repair where it appears to have come loose; other minor breakage and repair consistent with "tavern-style" usage; the surface with scattered moderate expected paint losses and wear.

Provenance

From the collection of the late Royster Lyle, Jr., Rockbridge Baths, VA.

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