Child's High Chair c. 1939

This is Samuel W. Ford’s watercolour of a Child’s High Chair. It’s an exercise in observation; you can almost feel the smooth wood of the chair. The colour palette is restrained; Ford coaxes a range of tones from browns and tans, achieving a gentle, soft effect. Look at the back of the chair, and the vertical supports that resemble symmetrical arrow heads; they are so simple, almost cartoonish. But the way Ford models the colour, and captures the light as it hits the surface, elevates the drawing beyond pure documentation. There is a stillness and a quiet beauty about it, it reminds me a little of the Shaker craft tradition, where everyday objects were made with great care. It’s also not dissimilar to the work of Fairfield Porter, who also painted everyday domestic scenes in watercolour with great affection. It’s a wonderful, thoughtful study of the everyday.