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| 2023-05-09 300 Rising Sun Chair (replica, ~1900); PAFA, Philadelphia |
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This is a replica of the chair George Washington sat in when he presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The original was made by Philadelphia cabinetmaker John Folwell for the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1778-79. The replica was owned by John Wannamaker (1838-1922), the Philadelphia department store magnate, who displayed it in his business office. "Rising Sun Chair" is an informal, twentieth-century term, based on Ben Franklin's observation that the carved sun was ascending rather than descending. . Karie Diethorn, Chief Curator, Independence National Historical Park, provided details about the chair's symbolism. "The half sun is topped by a liberty cap and liberty pole, as references to the quest for freedom from tyrrany. The crest rail and splat feature carved cornucopias and grain-bearing sheaves, referring to Pennsylvania's agricultural bounty. ... The mahogany was harvested in the Caribbean by enslaved people whose labor was the foundation of the entire Western world's economy. As such, the chair embodies within it both the lofty idealism and the harsh reality of America's complex past." . "I have often ... looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting." - Benjamin Franklin |