Empire era maple side chair; scroll cut and carved crest with pierced hand-hold at crest. Rail with horizontal splat, upholstered seat terminating with cabriole legs.
Rectangular top inset with brown/black leather. Molded edge, straight flat sides. Two longer sides have two drawers, each with two round concave areas with small knobs at center. Four legs with bun-and-cylinder turned feet. Legs taper down to feet with two buns terminating on the smaller bun foot.
Oval print. Samuel Ashmead, born December 19, 1795, father of Amanda M. Ashmead Thacher. Subject is seated. Shown from waist up, he is dressed in a jacket with wide lapels with one button visable on the jacket, buttoned vest with watch chain through buttonhole of the vest, and a white shirt and satin bow tie.
Provenance
Photographs from the James Buchanan Foundation institutional archives.
Some yellowing of the backing board with darker paper scraps adhered to front bottom of board. Small bump under photo on right arm near shoulder. Darkening of photo indicating an oval mat was over the photo. S. Small. 07/02/2007
Removed from frame 2016.
Object ID
JB-03-68-01
Notes
Samuel Ashmead was a botanist from the Germantown, PA area. He was the donor's husband's great-great grandfather. His passport hung in the donor's husband's grandfather's house for as long as she could remember.
Mrs. Lukens' husband, Arthur Thacher Lukens Jr., was the Govenor of the Mayflower Society of Pennsylvania. She said they met Mamie Eisenhower at Wheatland sometime in the late 1960s.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
