Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Side Chair with Masonic Symbols
1780-1800
Maker not marked
USA: New Hampshire, Portsmouth (Probably)
Wood; leather; paint
overall: 37 3/4 x 19 3/4 x 15 in.; 95.885 x 50.165 x 38.1 cm
Special Acquisitions Fund
80.39

Chippendale style side chair with red and black grain painting. Yoke back has pierced splat with C curves and a Masonic square and compasses. Replacement plank seat covered with scored leather (in imitation of rush seating). Four block stretchers, front turned strecher.

The maker of this chair incorporated a common symbol of Freemasonry, the square and compasses, into the decorative design of its back. Where this chair was used--in a lodge or in a private home--is not known.