The Freeman's American Department held its auction of American Furniture and Decorative arts, yesterday (April 21).
The sale's emergent highlight was a set of six walnut Chippendale chairs from Philadelphia, US, dated circa 1770, and marked with Roman numerals I through VI.
Each 40 inches high, the chairs bore a serpentine chest rail and a shell flanked by carved volutes, shell-carved legs and ball feet.
 Six walnut Chippendale chairs from Philadelphia, US, dated circa 1770 |
Most recently held in the Stevenson Easby Collection of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, the chairs provenance can be traced back to Cornelius Stevenson (1779-1860).
Stevenson was a Philadelphia lawyer married to Sara Yorke Stevenson, the prominent American archaeologist and prominent female rights activist.
The chair's remarkable provenance saw the lost almost double its $60,000-80,000 estimate, eventually selling for $121,000 including buyer's premium.
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