A Trivial Question

[L Verge]

After staring at the opening photo of the Presidential Box that appears on Dave Taylor's excellent BoothieBarn site, I need a clarification (maybe I should call it a "Clara"fication!).

The tufted, high-back chair to your viewing left in that photo should represent the one that Clara Harris sat in that night. However, that chair sure seems to have armrests on it - making it a gentleman's chair, not a lady's chair. If it had arms, Clara would have had a very difficult time of keeping her hoops under control.

Someone please satisfy my curiosity and tell me if the chair has arms. The wooden frame may slope gently downwards until it ends near and almost in line with the seat. That type of decoration could accommodate a lady's skirts and was often used on lady's chairs.

But if there are two arms like such chairs would typically have today, someone has goofed...

[RJNorton]

Laurie, this does not answer your question, but it's related. As I recall that chair is not the original chair Clara Harris was seated in. The only original furniture from 1865 is the sofa where Henry Rathbone was seated and Mary Lincoln's carved-back, cane-seat parlor chair. So my question would be: where does the chair in which Clara was seated reside today? Does it still exist?

[L Verge]

I believe you are correct in that only the sofa is original and the cane-seat one is very likely original to the box. Good question as to where Clara's chair (and I would assume that it would be very much like the cane-seat one) went. Is there any provenance for the tufted chair - or one similar in design - being in the box that night?