Sweet Briar House Gets New Table, Rocking Chair

From staff reports

The new rocker.

Sweet Briar House, the home of College President Jo Ellen Parker, recently received two “new” pieces of furniture. The items, which include an early 19th-century mahogany table and an upholstered rocking chair, were donated by Melinda Collie and her husband, David.

Collie, an interior decorator, is a 1979 graduate of Sweet Briar. She and her husband also collect Early American antiques.

The table, which seats 16 when the leaves are in place, will be used in the dining room at Sweet Briar House. According to Sweet Briar Museum director Christian Carr, it is thought to have been made by Duncan Phyfe in 1815 or earlier.

The chair is upholstered in crushed red velvet and has an eagle engraved at the top of the back. It was reportedly used by one of the Collies’ relatives, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Carr said chairs of this type were given to members of the House of Representatives during the antebellum period.