Balloon back walnut chairs with serpentine splat. Louis XV style back is rounded and finger molded with no additional carving. Flaring upholstered seat-black horsehair-with serpentine front with beaded molding at bottom of skirt. Cabriole front legs, rounded, with slightly curved square back legs terminating on flat feet.
Artifacts mentioned by Ara Hatch in New York Dalily Times 11/10/1856. Person had visited Wheatland.
Height (cm)
87.15248
Height (ft)
2.8593333333
Height (in)
34.312
Width (cm)
45.72
Width (ft)
1.5
Width (in)
18
Depth (cm)
40.9575
Depth (ft)
1.34375
Depth (in)
16.125
Condition
Good
Condition Date
2022-04-20
Condition Notes
Reupolstered; James Buchanan Foundation records indicate the seats were originally covered in green morrocan leather.
Object ID
W.1936.001.015
Notes
The chair was presumed to belong to James Buchanan by the James Buchanan Foundation representatives in 1936 when they bought certain furnishings that were still in the mansion during the Willson-Rettew Estate sale.
Mentioned by Ara Hatch in the N.Y. Daily Times (visited Wheatland 10 November 1856.)
Balloon back walnut chairs with serpentine splat. Louis XV style back is rounded and finger molded with no additional carving. Flaring upholstered seat-black horsehair-with serpentine front with beaded molding at bottom of skirt. Cabriole front legs, rounded, with slightly curved square back legs terminating on flat feet.
Artifacts mentioned by Ara Hatch in New York Dalily Times 11/10/1856. Person had visited Wheatland.
Height (in)
34.312
Width (in)
18
Depth (in)
16.125
Condition
Excellent
Condition Date
2022-11-21
Condition Notes
Reupolstered; James Buchanan Foundation records indicate the seats were originally covered in green morrocan leather.
Object ID
W.1936.001.015.2
Notes
The chair was presumed to belong to James Buchanan by the James Buchanan Foundation representatives in 1936 when they bought certain furnishings that were still in the mansion during the Willson-Rettew Estate sale.
Mentioned by Ara Hatch in the N.Y. Daily Times (visited Wheatland 10 November 1856.)
Hand-done B&BC on wove paper is torn and pieces attached to a larger, light brown paper with 5 straight pins. Tall columns with molded caps on top, in turn with round balls on top. Table-saw-like motif at top center is a circle divided in quarters of red and yellow, with a fringe of small slanting leaves.At bottom is a flowering plant. This decoration resembles that of Samuel Bentz.
Text block filling center is hand-printed German in black ink, copying the form of a printed B&BC with spaces for someone to infill later. Title at top is in red: "Geburts und Tauf Schein." and next line is in blue: "Diesen beyden Ehegatten als." Curlicues trail off the tops of the "ascenders" of letters in the first several lines. Blanks of this form infilled with very faded red scrawled script. A daughter was born 22 Dec? 1823. Names and places uncertain.
Paper onto which fraktur is mounted is H: 13 W: 11
Condition
Poor
Condition Date
2017-10-03
Condition Notes
Paper is pliable but soiled with blotches of brown staining, some very large. Colors faded. Much of fraktur is missing, esp. upper left and lower left. Large section of upper right corner torn off and pinned in place next to main section. Both fraktur and esp. paper onto which it is mounted are irregularly cut with many wrinkles, folds and tears.
Tin candle mold with 2 rows of 4, mounted on a raised rectangular base. The 8 molds incline toward each other at their tips and are soldered together for strength. Wire finger ring attached to one side of base and large looped strap handle at other side.
Provenance
Provenance before donor is unknown. Transferred from Heritage Center, December 2012.
Strainer of glazed redware, but with a lighter brown color than most redware. Resting on three tapered 1-1/8 " long feet. The flat-bottomed dish has straight sides that flare out to a molded, high lip. Applied handles at sides. Large holes in bottom and three rows of smaller holes at sides.
Lead glaze overall with some streaks/runs of a darker brown.
Numerous chips on body overall; some large ones on underside and a large chip on the side; handle edges have suffered the most significant chipping loss. Glaze is crackled overall and has some staining, particularly on the interior. Feet are moderately worn.
Object ID
G.98.12.17
Place of Origin
Pennsylvania
Credit
Gift of Mrs. S.R. Slaymaker II, Heritage Center Collection
Redware canning jar, ovoid shape with no handle. Pronounced foot ring and rounded flaring lip with recessed interior to receive a fitted lid (missing). Dark brown manganese decoration with some mottling, streaks and dark spatters. Lead glaze overall except for underside.
Very strong wear with losses. Lip has very large chip and one very small chip at outside edge. Strong losses of glaze at lip. Very strong abrasions at salient point of side, with considerable scattered scratches. Foot ring has three large chips and one very large chip. Soil on inside and underside.
Object ID
G.99.22.1
Place of Origin
Pennsylvania
Credit
Gift of Drs. Irwin and M. Susan Richman, Heritage Center Collection
Figure of a woman with brown hair wearing an ochre broad-rimmed hat, long-sleeved, full-skirted dress painted blue-green with ochre trim on bodice only, and unpainted pantaloons with black shoes. She is also holding a hankerchief in her right hand and flowers in her left hand. Square plinth with clipped corners is lightly dabbed with tannish-brown. Back side is inpainted.
Inscription inside base is pencilled "PRC".
Provenance
Collected by Harpo and Susan Marx in Pennsylvania during their visits back East from CA. Donation to the Heritage Center.
Moderate soiling and paint loss. Small chips throughout; large loss on back right corner of base. Mended break in the left skirt. Several paint splatters on skirt front.
Object ID
G.98.51.75
Place of Origin
Pennsylvania
Credit
Given in memory of Harpo by Susan Marx, Heritage Center Collection
Trinket box of softwood constuction covered by German newsprint outside and a coarse blue-green paper inside. Glued over the newsprint are strips of straw of various tones arranged in geometrical designs on domed lid and sides in a technique very similar to marquetry. Newsprint visible on underside as well as where straw pieces are missing. Lid has hinge of coarse linen under laminate. Bent wire hook on lid fits into wire loop on box front.
Provenance
Collected by donor in Lancaster Co. According authority Clarke Hess, these boxes are plentiful, but not usually with newspaper lining. Clarke owns two of these boxes, both with Lancaster German language newsprint, and believes these boxes were made 1820-1840 in PA.
John Tannehill, expert in iron, reports someone told him these boxes were made in prisons.