IMPORTANT AND EARLY ROSE VALLEY ARMCHAIR

Armchair designed by William Lightfoot Price and made in the woodworking shop at Rose Valley, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, ca. 1903. White oak. H. 45 1/4”, W. 25 1/4”, D. 25 3/4”. (photo, Gavin Ashworth.) This chair bears the Rose Valley brand. An identical chair with a leather seat appeared in a line cut illustration in The Artsman 1, no. 1 (October 1903): 4.

The armchair has remained in the same private collection since 1943 and has never been offered for sale. It was exhibited in “From Arts and Crafts To Modern Design: The Architecture of William L. Price,” University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, May through September, 2000 and the National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., August 21, 2001 - March 24, 2002.

The chair is reproduced in “William Lightfoot Price: His Furniture and Its Context,” Robert Edwards, figure 31, American Furniture 2012, edited by Luke Beckerdite,The Chipstone Foundation, distributed by University Press of New England.
A drawing by Will Price reproduced in a line cut illustration in The Artsman 1, no. 1 (October 1903): 4, which was the first edition of the little magazine where Price and others recorded their version of the Arts and Crafts movement.