Sources of American Federal Furniture Design At Yale University Art Gallery

NEW HAVEN — In the early years of the 19th Century, designs from ancient Greece and Rome held great appeal for citizens of the United States, in part because the new country was seen as a rebirth of the Greek and Roman republics.

An exhibition recently opened at Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG), “Curule: Ancient Design in American Federal Furniture,” looks at the sources of inspiration for an unusual form of classical revival furniture in early 19th Century America. Focusing on seating furniture that used the Roman sella curulis, or folding stool, as a prototype, the small exhibition will be on view in the Matrix Gallery through January 4.

The exhibition begins with three 1st Century BC Roman coins from YUAG’s numismatic collection. Each of the coins is struck with an image of the sella curulis, a small stool that was one of the principal emblems of political authority in ancient Rome. The folding stool had two hinged S-shaped legs at each end, with a seat frame created by fitting notched side rails onto the fixed front and back rails, with a leather seat stretched between them.

A 16th Century version of the sella curulis is depicted in a drawing from YUAG’s collection by Giulio Romano of a scene in which the stool is transformed into a chair for the Roman general Coriolanus.

Also in the exhibition is a group of influential early 19th Century books of architectural and decorative designs by Thomas Hope, George Smith, and Charles Heathcote Tatham, published in England, in which the sella curulis is featured. American craftsmen drew upon these, as well as Grench publications by Pierre de la Mésangère and Percier and Fontaine, for their version of curule-based furniture.

The exhibition features a side chair and stool that are modeled on the English designs, but the two settees and another chair appear to be distinct American innovations, based more closely on Tatham’s etchings of 1st Century stools excavated at Herculaneum. New York curule furniture maintains a remarkable consistency of construction and design, and it may be possible to attribute the surviving examples to one workshop.

David L. Barquist, acting curator of American decorative arts, and Ethan W. Lasser, a Henry S. McNeil graduate research assistant at Yale University Art Gallery, have collaborated on the exhibition and accompanying publication. The publication, with an essay, “From the Battlefields of Rome to the Mansions of New York: A History of the Curule-Base’s Revival” by Mr Lasser, and catalog entries by Mr Barquist, is available in the museum store for $7 during the exhibition and $10 after its close.

A related symposium, “Classical Furniture in America, 1800–1840,” will be held the weekend of September 19. The exhibition is supported by the Friends of American Arts at Yale and an endowment created with a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Yale University Art Gallery, on Chapel Street between High and York Streets in New Haven, exhibits a permanent collection from every period in the history of art, with special changing exhibitions throughout the year. Admission is free for individuals; groups should call 203-432-8459 for information about fees and to make a reservation.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; Thursday, 10 am to 8 pm except July and August; and Sunday, 1 to 6 pm. For information about handicapped access call 203-432-0606. For recorded general and program information call 203-432-0600. Additional information about the gallery, its programs and exhibitions is available at www.yale.edu/ArtGallery.