"As rare as hen's teeth." was the first thing Scott Chalfant said to me as I was admiring this walnut wainscot armchair at the Hospital Show. It had been made in Pennsylvania in about 1740. The English influence was obvious, the crest rail was very similar to ones found on chairs made in Cheshire and Lancashire some 30 or 40 years earlier, though the English chairs would have had the points of the scrolls cut through. The Pennsylvania maker had produced a far more sophisticated front stretcher than any of his English counterparts. $85,000.

HL Chalfant Antiques, 1352 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380, (610) 696-1862, info@hlchalfant.com, www.hlchalfant.com.