Bacon, John Mark2020-05-272020-05-271991http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/27178"Copyrighted materials in this document have not been filmed at the request of the author. They are available for consultation, however, in the author’s university library. [Omitted pages: 108-165"--Unnumbered page inserted by UMI between pages 107 and 166.This thesis analyzes extant Delaware Valley slatback chairs and discusses the formal and ethnic origins of this slatback tradition and its evolution over time. A large body of extant chairs is identified and suggests a formal typology. This typology serves as datum; formal, behavioral, and quantitative analyses further define specific groups of chairs and their relation to the tradition as a whole. Two basic chair types and significant variants relate to temporal, geographical, and market changes. Fully-arched slatback chairs start as a popular type and eventually become folk products, while flat-bottomed slatback chairs represent another response to the same changes in the popular seating market. Finally, in the context of related regional and European seating, Delaware Valley slatbacks appear to be the products of a fusion tradition, combining English and Germanic formal elements into a distinct, American regional tradition.Slat-back chairsChairs -- Delaware River Valley (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)Chairs -- PennsylvaniaFurniture -- United States -- English influencesThesis1155503161