Sitting in Savannah: Telfair Chairs and Sofas

The story of Sitting in Savannah begins with the Telfair and Owens families. The bequests of Mary Telfair in 1875 and Margaret Gray Thomas in 1951 establish the core of Telfair Museums’ decorative arts holdings, including the chairs and sofas that offer a physical connection to Savannah’s past. Since then, the Telfair’s seating collection has grown to incorporate many other local household furnishings. Examples include chairs and sofas which held generations of Savannahians, both old and new, as well as their visitors, possibly including three presidents—George Washington who visited the city in 1791, James Monroe, in 1819, and James Knox Polk in 1849. Chairs and sofas donated by collectors from outside the city, as well as a few museum purchases, have also added significantly to the collection, broadening the story nationally and internationally. The strength of the holdings are American, made between the years 1815-1840, although the collection spans the period from the mid-18th century to the late 19th century. Most of the chairs and sofas reflect the wealthy status of their original owners and thus represent the high-style fashions of their period and provide a glimpse into past seating arrangements.

While viewing the chairs on view in this gallery, as well as the period rooms at both the Telfair Academy and Owens-Thomas House, imagine the time and place of their original setting. Who owned these chairs? What books did they read while sitting in these chairs? Who did they converse with while sitting? What did they talk about? What did they think while sitting alone, with company, at a party? Did enslaved and free servants sit on the high-style chairs and sofas while their masters were away?

Chairs and sofas represent the primary confluence of style and use in the decorative arts. As an artifact, they exhibit a three-dimensional sculptural form of artistic expression reflecting time and culture. When used, however, they disappear, fading into the material culture of our lives. Sitting in Savannah gives context to both ideas and pays homage to the designers, craftsmen, owners and users of the Telfair’s seating collection. These stories become our stories, telling a local, national and international tale, which gives context to our lives, whether sitting or standing.

Sponsored in part by the Telfair Academy Guild.