Side Chair (one of 12)
Renaissance Revival style, 1864
Baltimore; made by William Teubner
This chair is embellished with the Ridgely family stag’s head crest, like many objects made for use at Hampton in the mid-19th century. It is probable that the set of unusual tall upholstered-back chairs was made for Hampton’s Dining Room in 1864 by a recently arrived German cabinetmaker named William Teubner, as documented in John Ridgely’s account book. A large matching extension dining table with many leaves also survives in the collection. By 1872, however, as recorded by the earliest photograph of Hampton’s interior, the chairs were in use in the Great Hall, where they were found when the house became a property of the National Park Service in 1948. Their stiff tufted backs may have been uncomfortable for the family, who late in the 19th century was still using the set of late Federal dining chairs originally ordered by Charles Carnan Ridgely in c. 1815.
Walnut. H 129, W 45.7, D (SEAT) 44.5 cm
Hampton National Historic Site, HAMP 958
Historic Photograph
Hampton National Historic Site, HAMP 44280