Gentleman's Chair

MediumMohair velvet and wood

Dimensions44 × 26 × 19 in. (111.8 × 66 × 48.3 cm)

ClassificationsFurniture

Credit LineGift of Margaret Clark Barr, Florence Clark Vanderhoof, Eunice Clark Garner. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number73.12.5

Status

On view

Collections

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: The settee, gentleman’s chair, and ladies chair in the main parlor are often a tour stop to highlight the formal nature of Victorian social etiquette and interior design. The walnut set is in the Eastlake style, an interior adaptation of the design movement started by Charles Eastlake (British, 1836–1906) and popularized through his book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and Other Details (1868). As with many other technical innovations and new designs, the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia hosted a display of Eastlake furniture, exposing consumers to the relatively new style. Eastlake designed furniture that balanced geometric forms, low reliefs, and incised details that can be seen throughout the Farm House Museum as part of late Victorian middle-class furnishings. This furniture set was stuffed and upholstered in horsehair, which was prized for its ability to retain shape, durability, and luxury look. Flanking the settee (36 × 24 × 48 in.) are the gentleman’s armchair (44 × 26 × 19 in.) and ladies side chair (39 × 20 × 16 1/4 in.). Victorian women wearing bustles needed a chair lower to the ground and armless so that it would not interfere with their many layers of skirting. The sofa and chairs were part of the personal furniture collection of Dr. Budge of Chicago, Illinois.

PeriodVictorian Era

Locations