A Set of Twelve American Gothic Revival Carved Oak Dining Chairs, late 19th-early 20th century possibly by John Henry Sievers (1841- 1920), San Antonio, Texas, with pierced, arched crocketed crests, blind fret stiles, square backs and seats with octagonal carved legs joined by H stretchers, sidechair height 47 .5in., armchair height 50 5in E7000-9000 Provenance: Descended through the family of C.G. Wood, a prominent planter in the Brazos River valley near Bryan, Texas. The Wood family moved into a house on 324 French Place in San Antonio in the early 1910's to facilitate the debut of five daughters. According to family history, the dining room suite was purchased from a local convent for the home before Mr. Wood's death in 1912, and according to family tradition, the suite was acquired from Sievers by the convent. Note: Born in Germany in 1841, John Henry Sievers immigrated with his family to Castroville, Texas as a young child, and was trained in the rigorous German cabinetmaking tradition continued in the Central Texas immigrant community. Sievers established the J.H. Sievers Altar Manufacturing Company in San Antonio. The company supplied furniture not only in Texas, but also in Louisiana, New Mexico and Arizona throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A carved figural panel Sievers made for the altar at San Antonio's St. Joseph's Church has the same round-faced physiognomy as seen in the figural masks featured in this dining room suite. Reference: Cecilia Steinfeldt, The Folk Art of Frontier Texas, Magazine Antiques, December 1978, p. 1288.