Rare Pair of American Gothic Revival Oak Hall Chairs, probably New Orleans, crafted by the unknown "Stanton Hall Master", mid-19th century, the tall backs supported by pierced and carved stiles terminating in crocketed spires, the central pierced and carved splats with an additional carved spire, plank seats, and supported by pierced front legs, h. 68". Provenance: By repute, the present chairs were purchased in the 1970s from New Orleans auctioneer and dealer Ben Mathews. They have been at Fourth Church of Christ Scientist, New Orleans, since that time. These chairs belong to a small iconic group of Gothic furniture associated with the Antebellum South. Related chairs, sofas, and recamiers have primarily been found in New Orleans, with other items from this group having surfaced in Vicksburg and most notably Stanton Hall in Natchez, Mississippi. It has been suggested that New Orleans may have been the source of this body of furniture. Related examples are in most of the major collections of 19th-century American furniture, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Bybee Collection, the Dallas Museum of Art; the Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum; and the New Orleans Museum of Art.