This chair is a good example of the late Baroque (or Queen Anne) style in New England-a solid back splat, "yoke" crest rail, cabriole (curved) legs with pad feet, and turned stretchers. The painted decoration was added later, presumably to update its look. The chair is painted with chinoiserie (Chinese-style) decoration, called "Japanning." Although Japanned decoration was popular in the eighteenth century, the method and imagery of this Japanning dates it to the early-nineteenth century. The decoration includes the Gardner family coat of arms on the front seat rail and a variety of motifs, including vines and leaves, scrolls, trees, figures, and pagodas. Here, the added decoration, which also indicates family ownership, makes this chair more unusual and interesting.

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