Pair of Philadelphia Chippendale carved mahogany dining chairs, ca. 1770, possibly from the workshop of Thomas Tufft, each with a foliate carved crest above a Gothic splat and trapezoidal slip seat, resting in a frame with a central plume element supported by cabriole legs terminating in ball and claw feet. A pair of chairs with nearly identical splats, crest rails, and skirts are labeled by Tufft and illustrated in Downs American Furniture Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods, plate 134. Exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum Americana; Midwest Collector's Choice, 1960. Provenance: John Walton, 1953; The Chipstone Foundation, sold at Christie's, October 9th, 2002, lot 233. Chair #1 - seat frame replaced, nice old dry surface, minor repair to shoe. Chair #2 - original seat frame, nice old dry surface, minor repaired break to splat, repaired break to one front leg.