Existing comment:
Armchair Used in the United States House of Representatives, 1857-1873
This chair was part of group made in 1857 for the 262 members of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The architect who designed them, Thomas U. Walter, also designed new north and south wings and a cast-iron dome for the Capitol during the 1850s. The chairs certainly look impressive--but members of the House complained that they were too cumbersome. Many of the chairs were sold two years later. Mathew Brady, famous for his photographs of Abraham Lincoln and Civil War battlefields, bought one of the chairs for his studio and used it in many of his photographs. The matching desks also proved impractical and were finally sold in 1873 along with the remaining chairs. |