1790-1810, shield backs with foliate carvings, inlaid with foliate elements to the center ribs, fine black horsehair over the rail upholstery with label for "Hasip Tuzeer", molded tapered legs with stretcher base, 38 x 19-1/2 x 16-3/4 in., seat height 18-1/4 in.

Provenance: Philip and Mary Mason Wythe Tabb, Toddsbury Plantation, Gloucester County, Virginia, thence by descent in the family until 1929, when Colonial Williamsburg acquired the chairs from Margaret Arthur Tabb in Newstead; ex collection Colonial Williamsburg circa 2007; Levison & Cullen Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, 2007 (accompanied by copy of receipt for $35,000); Estate of Richard and Shirley Roberts, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Note: Despite a history of ownership in Virginia, these chairs were made in Baltimore, Maryland, underscoring the fact that Virginia residents near the Chesapeake Bay often turned to Baltimore cabinet- and chairmakers.

The larger set of eight chairs was originally owned by Philip and Mary Mason Wythe Tabb of Toddsbury, a plantation on the North River in Gloucester County, Virginia. Phil Tabb inherited the Toddsbury property in 1782. About ten years later, he undertook an extensive remodeling; the purchase of these chairs was probably associated with the resulting redecoration. These chairs remained at Toddsbury until 1856 when the house was sold and the chairs were moved to Newstead, a new Tabb house on the same estate.

Two chairs from the original set of eight are still in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg and illustrated in Ronald Hurst and Jonathan Prown, Southern Furniture 1680-1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection (1997), pp. 1240126, fig. 31; the other four chairs are presently in private collections.