Existing comment:
Arm chair, probably made by John Hemmings, mahogany, ca. 1817.
Elizabeth Hemings's youngest son, John, was a highly skilled woodworker, eventually running the Monticello Joinery (cabinet shop). This chair, probably made in the Monticello Joinery, is a copy of French chairs used in the Monticello house. Jefferson may have commissioned this chair for use at Poplar Forest, where John Hemmings created interior woodwork and for which he made other furniture.
Note: John Hemmings, who could read and write, often spelled his name with a double m, while other family members used a single m. |