Recent Acquistions: "The 6th Dining Room Chair" comes home

 A chair made by Jonathan Fisher and recently donated by his descendants may be seen in the exhibition gallery at the Fisher House. The modern fabic and upholstery are to be removed in order to show the construction of the frame.

 After 160 years away from the Fisher House, a fifth chair from the a set made by Jonathan Fisher in the early 1800's has returned home, thanks to the generosity of Fisher descendants Mark Wanzenberg and his mother Nancy Wanzenberg, in memory of Mrs. Wanzenberg's mother, Marian Kimball Wheelock.  The chair is  constructed of cherry, its design a country version of a type known as 'ribband back'.  It is significant that this chair, unlike the other four in our collection, has never been refinished, retaining the original varnish appled by Jonathan Fisher, making the chair an excellent study document.  After conservation, it will be exhibited as a bare frame, with modern upholstery removed, the better to study Fisher's craftsmanship.  The chairs descended to various family members through Fisher's daughter Mary (Mrs. Benjamin) Stevens, who lived at Orchard Lodge on Main Street, now the Congregational Parsonage.

One of the set of chairs made by Fisher may be seen in the center of this late 19th century photograph of the parlor at Orchard Lodge (now the Congregational Parsonage), during the occupancy of his granddaughter Harriet Morton.

 

Two others of the set of Fisher chairs in the parlor of the Fisher House