Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Chair |
Catalog Number |
1989.9.5 |
Maker |
Frankfort Penitentiary |
Date |
ca. 1900 |
Material(s) |
Wood; |
Dimensions |
H-34 W-15.125 D-18.5 inches |
Description |
This is a ladderback chair with three curved slats mortised into the back supports and secured with a brad. It has tapering feet and rounded tops on the legs. The back posts are flattened on the face. There are three plain turned stretchers on each side. There is a twisted paper seat woven around the top stretchers. There are yellow pinstripes traced around the flattened face of the posts as well as down the slats vertically, beneath the stretcher mortise on the front legs, and around the middle front stretcher. |
Notes |
Attributed by vender to the Frankfort Penitentiary. In 1891 the new state constitution restricted prison labor to the prison grounds after decades of abuse. Contractors expanded operations inside prisons at Frankfort and Eddyville, concentrating on assembly-line manufactures of shoes, shirts, chairs, brooms, and leather goods. The system collapsed in 1929 when organized labor forced passage of the Hawes-Cooper Act which allowed states to block import of prison-made goods which competed with free laborers. |
Collection |
KHS Museum Collection |
People |
Frankfort Penitentiary |
Subjects |
Chairs Seating furniture Furniture Prison laborers Prisoners |
Search Terms |
Frankfort (Ky.) Frankfort Penitentiary Ladder Back Chair |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |